Day, Hunt, & Nicolini Claim Volleyball Weekly Awards
MAAC Sports
Player of the Week
Skyler Day, Fairfield
Jr., OH, Minooka, IL/ Minooka Community High School /University at Buffalo
Skyler Day posted a pair of double-doubles as the Stags went 2-0 on the MAAC’s Western New York swing to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 18 matches. She averaged 5.25 kills on .268 hitting on the outside and aided the defensive effort with 4.00 digs per frame in the wins over Canisius and Niagara. Day filled out her statline with four assists, two blocks and a service ace. In Saturday’s sweep at Canisius, she had 18 kills (.333 hitting), 16 digs, three assists and an ace in three sets of work. On Sunday, Fairfield won a 3-2 decision at Niagara behind a career-high 24 kills (.224 hitting) from Day as well as 16 digs, two blocks and an assist.
Libero of the Week
Rylee Hunt, Niagara
Jr., Libero, Laguna Niguel, CA/Dana Hills High School
Rylee Hunt led the Purple Eagles in digs per set with 5.17 in three matches last week. Hunt tied a then-season-high with 23 digs in the Purple Eagles’ four-set win versus Quinnipiac on Saturday. Hunt notched her first double-double of the season against Fairfield on Sunday. Hunt had a career-high 14 assists to go along with a season and match-high 31 digs. She also had at least one ace in every match. Hunt had a .980 reception percentage on a team-high 102 attempts in the three matches.
Rookie of the Week
Manuela Nicolini, Fairfield
Fr., S, Castelnuovo Rangone, Italy/Istituto d’Arte A. Venturi
Manuela Nicolini dished out 7.50 assists per set while running the Fairfield offense to a 2-0 record on the MAAC’s Western New York swing to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 18 matches. She piloted the attack to a .242 hitting percentage in the wins at Canisius and Niagara, adding five kills of her own (.333) to the offense. She added 2.00 digs and 0.88 blocks per frame to the defensive effort. Nicolini dished out 18 assists with two kills, one block and one dig in the sweep of Canisius on Saturday. She posted a double-double in Sunday’s win at Niagara with 42 assists and 15 digs (both career highs) as well as six blocks and three kills.