Potts, Stustman earn SBC weekly honors

Austin Lanter

Senior defensive specialist Ashley Potts and senior setter Melanie Stutsman both received honors from the Sun Belt Conference for their efforts last week, the conference announced Monday.

Potts was named the Defensive Player of the Week for the Conference while Stutsman was named the Setter of the Week.

Stutsman became the first player to earn the tittle Setter of the Week for the Conference multiple times as the award is new this year. Stutsman also received the honor after the first week of the season.

Through four games last week, Potts tallied 67 digs total, including a season-high 24 in a losing effort to Ohio, who is now ranked No. 24 in the nation. The game against Ohio was a part of the WKU Invitational, with the other participants being Virginia and UNLV. WKU was victorious in both of those games and Potts led the team with 17 digs in each game.

Over the course of the weekend, Potts helped the Lady Toppers to average 13.46 digs per set compared to the 11.62 for their opponents. Opponents also only tallied a .181 hitting percentage against WKU.

Stutsman had her best week of the season statistically last season, recording an average of 12.46 assists per set, giving her 162 in four games last week. She tallied her most assists in a 3-1 win over Virginia with 44. The next day Stutsman recorded 42 assists in a 3-0 win over UNLV. Stutsman had more than 11 assists in every set last week.

Potts, Stutsman, and the Lady Toppers (7-4) will participate in the Flyer Classic in Dayton, Ohio, this weekend and will begin conference play on the road at Troy on Sept. 27.