Women's Volleyball | 10/24/2022 12:49:00 PM
MELBOURNE, Fla. -- Barry sophomore Diana Akopova was named Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, for the week of Oct. 17 - 23.
Akopova receives her fourth Offensive Player of the Week award this season following 6.3 kills per set, and a .365 hitting percentage across three Barry wins, all 3-0 sweeps. At Nova Southeastern last Tuesday, Akopova led the Buccaneers with 18 kills and a .421 hitting percentage. She served three aces and had four block assists versus Shark attacks to total 23.0 points in the win.
At home on Friday evening, the Buccaneer outside hitter took 54 swings and delivered 24 kills. She put 22 serves in play and earned a block for 24.5 points in another sweep.
Akopova's kill total against Embry-Riddle in three sets (24) ties for fifth all-time in school history with Sonia Gubaidulina (Central Missouri; 10/01/1995); three other Bucs share the top mark (25) for kills in three sets including twice for Mickisha Hurley who first accomplished the feat against UNC-Pembroke (11/05/1994) and a week later duplicated the effort with teammate Elvira Vakhidova (Florida Southern; 11/12/1994). Camilla Pagnan reached 25 kills in three sets most recently (Rollins; 09/29/2007).
Click HERE for link to Barry women's volleyball record book.
Barry completed its third-straight sweep with a 3-0 decision against Rollins on Saturday in the Health & Sports Center. Akopova contributed 15 kills, one service ace, and three blocks (two solo) for 18.5 points.
The award is the fourth of the season for Akopova and also the fourth of her career.
The Buccaneers as a team have a total of six SSC Player of the Week awards this season.
This week, Barry plays three road matches against SSC foes beginning Tuesday at Lynn University (7 p.m.) and then Friday at Saint Leo (7 p.m.) before finishing Saturday at Florida Tech (4 p.m.).
