AMHERST, N.Y. -- Daemen University women's volleyball players
Vanessa Kuliga (Glenview, Ill.) and
Olivia Alessi (East Aurora, N.Y.) have picked up East Coast Conference Weekly Awards, the conference announced on Monday afternoon in the
weekly ECC sport report. Kuliga has been named Defensive Player of the Week, while Alessi earns Setter of the Week for performances over October 17 through 23. This is the seventh straight week that Daemen has been represented in the weekly volleyball awards.
Kuliga picks up her second Defensive Player of the Week of the season after a standout week at the net. The 6-0 middle blocker totaled 13 blocks over four matches to average 0.87 blocks per set. In Saturday's 3-1 win over Queens, Kuliga put up a season-high five blocks with two solo blocks and three assisted blocks. She added 26 kills over the week (1.73 kills/set), including two 10-kill games against Gannon and Queens. Kuliga notched six service aces and 13 digs over the week.
In her junior season, Kuliga has been a big part of the Daemen offense, ranking fourth on the team in kills with 121 on the season to average 2.12 kills/set. Her hitting percentage of .296 ranks fourth in the conference. She leads the team in blocks with 32 on the year, and accounts for over 1/3 of Daemen's total blocks (91).
This is Kuliga's third ECC weekly award of the season. She earned Defensive Player of the Week on September 26 when the Wildcats swept the weekly awards, and was named Player of the Week on October 11 when she tallied her 100th career block. This is also the fourth week that a Wildcat has been named Defensive Player of the Week.
Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) took home the honors on Sept. 12, Kuliga picked it up on Sept. 26, and
Mickaley Monahan (Saline, Mich.) earned the award last week.
Alessi, a 5-4 junior setter, earns her third Setter of the Week after tallying 157 assists (10.46 assists/set) over four matches. She put up a season-high 45 assists against Queens on Saturday, averaging 11.25 assists per set in the 3-1 victory. She finished with double-doubles (assists-digs) against Gannon and Queens for her third and fourth double-doubles of the season. Alessi added 45 digs in the matches to average 3 digs/set, including a season-high 21 digs against Gannon on Tuesday. She added 13 kills for a .286 hitting percentage, knocking down a season-high seven against the Golden Knights, as well as totaling five service aces over the week, including a season-high four aces against Saint Rose on Friday.
On the year, Alessi has tallied 419 assists, and ranks second in the conference with 9.31 assists per set. Alessi has amassed 20 service aces, second-most on the team behind Kuliga, and ranks fifth on the team in digs (124 total, 2.76 digs/set).
This is the third Setter of the Week honors for Alessi, and the fourth time a Daemen player has earned it this season. Fellow Daemen junior setter
Dunja Masic (McHenry, Ill.) was named Setter of the Week last week.
Daemen is 15-5 on the season after splitting last week's matches, and a perfect 8-0 in conference play. The Wildcats return to Lumsden Gymnasium on Wednesday for a midweek Thruway Rivalry match against Roberts Wesleyan at 6 PM. A win against the Redhawks will clinch their second straight ECC regular season title. The regular season champ will earn the top seed and hosting privileges for the ECC Tournament, which will be held November 11-12.
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
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