Several Lady Toppers continue to scoop up multiple awards and recognitions as the volleyball season has reached its midway point.

On Monday, Conference USA named senior Jessica Lucas the Setter of the Week for the fifth week in a row and named Sydney Engle the Defensive Player of the Week for the third consecutive week.

Lucas – who now has 17 Setter of the Week awards in her career, which ties a conference record – tallied 67 assists (11.17 assists/set) over the weekend while contributing 1.33 kills per set and facilitating the WKU offense to a season-best .507 hitting percentage in the win over Middle Tennessee.

Engle picked up her third consecutive DPOW honor after her versatile performance on both sides of the ball over the weekend, averaging 3.00 points per set and 3.83 digs per set. Additionally, the senior notched 10 kills and 13 digs against Louisiana Tech and hit at a .556 clip with 10 more digs against MTSU.

On Tuesday, Lucas and Alyssa Cavanaugh were just two of 30 NCAA women’s volleyball student athletes to be selected as candidates for the 2017 Senior CLASS Award after their achievements in the areas of community, classroom, character and competition.

“What a great honor for our entire WKU volleyball program to have two players on the list,” WKU head coach Travis Hudson said in a press release. “It is truly a testament to the kind of student-athletes we have in our program. We take a lot of pride in how we represent our university.”

Cavanaugh was named the 2016 C-USA Player of the Year while Lucas is a two-time defending C-USA Setter of the Year. The pair of offensive stars have combined for six AVCA All-America accolades with the Lady Toppers and are two of the 17 candidates with at least one All-America honor.

Looking ahead

The Lady Toppers (17-2) will continue a four-game home stand on Friday evening when they welcome in Southern Mississippi at 6 p.m.

The Lady Eagles improved to 13-7 with a win over Jackson State on Monday evening.

Southern Miss is lead on offense by freshman outside hitter Chandler Marshall, who has compiled 221 kills on a .209 hitting clip on the season, along with junior outside hitter Kylie Grandy, who has tallied 212 kills and a .197 hitting percentage.

Defensively, the Lady Eagles are led by senior libero Natalie Druhan, who has tallied 263 digs on the season. Sophomore middle blocker Catherine Repsher has 68 blocks to lead Southern Miss. 

The Lady Toppers have won 13-straight matches, 29-straight conference matches and 47-straight home conference matches.

Reporter Clay Manlove can be reached at (270) 724-9620 or at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ctmanlove58.