Dearien Collects First Honors of the Season
OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. (September 29, 2014) -- Junior outside hitter Audrey Dearien has been named the Sooner Athletic Conference’s Hitter of the Week for the week ending on Sept. 28, the conference offices announced this afternoon.
Additional honors went to Mid-America Christian's (Okla.) Shannon Niemeier, who was named the Player of the Week, Southwestern A.G.'s (Texas) Emmalee Smith as Libero of the Week and Wayland Baptist's (Texas) Ashlyn Westerman as Setter of the Week.
Dearien, a junior outside hitter from Frisco, Texas, averaged 4.14 kills in a seven-game span in JBU wins against Southwestern Christian (Okla.) and Wayland Baptist. For the week, Dearien had an attack percentage of .459 and had only one error in 61 total attack attempts. She had 13 kills and 10 digs in John Brown's 3-1 upset victory over No. 22 Wayland Baptist.
Dearien currently ranks No. 20 in the nation in total service aces (32).
Niemeier, a junior from Carlsbad, N.M. posted impressive numbers for the Evangels in losses to Oklahoma Wesleyan and Oklahoma City. She averaged 3.88 kills per game and had an attack percentage of .128. She had a team-best 23 kills in a 3-2 loss to Oklahoma City where she also recorded 11 digs.
Smith, a junior setter from Red Oak, Texas, averaged 5.45 digs in an 11-game span for SAGU in matches against Texas Wesleyan, Wiley (Texas) and Southwestern Christian. Her best game came in the 3-0 win against Wiley when she had 29 digs.
Westerman, a senior setter from Liberal, Kan. won for the second time this season by averaging 10.0 assists in a seven-game span against John Brown (Ark.) and St. Gregory's (Okla.). She had an equal stat line in both games, recording 35 assists to go with eight digs.
OTHER NOMINEES: Caitlin Paschall, SAGU; Shahala Hawkins, WBU; Shayna Daniels, JBU; Shelby Stinnett, TWU; Kristen Macy, OCU; Cadyn Laing, OBU; Chelsey Driskill, WBU; Audrey Dearien, JBU; Shelby Stinnett, TWU; Meghan Irwin, OCU; Priscila Mendes, OBU; Mercades Torres, WBU; Becca Young, JBU; Abigail Zipoy, TWU; Kelley Shiels, OCU; Valerie Stetzer, OBU; Shayna Daniels, JBU; Lauren Hamaker, TWU; Heather Watson, OCU; Ezgi Guney, OBU.
