C-USA award round-up: Briggs, Dieudonne, Brathwaite earn weekly award hardware

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Arthur H. Trickett-Wile

WKU outside hitter Paige Briggs (1) spiking over opponents in a volleyball game against Ole Miss at Diddle Arena on the evening of Sept. 10, 2021.

Wyatt Sparkman, Football reporter

Multiple WKU athletes earned Conference USA weekly awards on Monday afternoon for their performances across a busy weekend of action on the Hill.

For football, WKU safety A.J. Brathwaite Jr. was named C-USA Co-Defensive Player of the Week along with FAU graduate safety Jordan Helm. 

The first-year starter tallied a career-high 15 total tackles against the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday night after totaling just 18 throughout his first three seasons on the Hill. The 15 tackles were tied for fourth-most in a single game across WKU’s time in FBS. Brathwaite recorded a sack and a forced fumble against the Hoosiers.  

Over in Diddle Arena, WKU Volleyball completed a perfect weekend sweep of the Marshall Herd, winning 3-0 on both Friday and Saturday to open the Hilltoppers’ C-USA slate.

Junior outside hitter Paige Briggers earned Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week honors after contributing 26 kills, five blocks and eight digs across the two contests. She hit her 800th career kill under the lights on Friday night and turned in a .560 hitting percentage during WKU’s first match against the Herd. The nod marks Briggs’ 10th weekly C-USA award.

Fifth-year setter Nadia Dieudonne was named Conference USA Setter of the Week after contributing 78 assists throughout the weekend, averaging 13 helping-hands per set. WKU lined up kills on 47% of Dieudonne’s sets on Friday and a whopping 54.9% of her sets resulted in kills on Saturday afternoon. This is Dieudonne’s 14th total weekly award.

The awards reflect WKU’s strong start to the fall across all sports. The red and white have jumped out to a collective 22-4 start in team sports (football, soccer, volleyball).

Football reporter Wyatt Sparkman can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @wyattsparkman3. Sports Editor Jake Moore contributed to this article.