Tweet #theGAC  RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference announced the volleyball players of the week for the eighth week of the 2023 season. Ouachita Baptist’s Emily Adams and Courtney Hanson captured the Offensive Player and Setter awards while the Tigers’ Leah Gardner and Southern Arkansas’ Lauryn Moultrie shared the Defensive Player honor

#theGAC VOLLEYBALL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Emily Adams, RS/MB, Ouachita Baptist, So., Arlington, Texas
Adams averaged 4.43 kills and 4.79 points per set as the Tigers defeated Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Nazarene. She registered a match-high 16 kills in the four-set win against the Bison as the Tigers earned their first win against the Bison since 2018. She followed up with 15 kills against only two errors in a sweep of the Crimson Storm.

#theGAC VOLLEYBALL CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Leah Gardner, MB, Ouachita Baptist, Fr., Crandall, Texas
Gardner collected a total of nine blocks in victories against the Bison and Crimson Storm. She totaled five in the four-set win against the Bison. She added four against the Crimson Storm. She contributed to the Tiger offense by adding four service aces and 11 kills.

#theGAC VOLLEYBALL CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Lauryn Moultrie, MH, Southern Arkansas, Jr., Fairburn, Georgia
Moultrie averaged 1.22 blocks per set in helping the Muleriders collect wins against Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southwestern Oklahoma State. She came up with four blocks against the Rangers and seven against the Bulldogs. SAU ended a five-match losing streak to Northwestern and defeated SWOSU for the first time since 2014.

#theGAC VOLLEYBALL SETTER OF THE WEEK – Courtney Hanson, S, Ouachita Baptist, So., Arlington, Texas
Hanson scored her second Setter of the Week accolade of the season after she finished the week as the lone GAC setter to average more than 10.0 assists per week. She averaged 12.14 per set in two wins. She totaled 52 assists and 22 digs in a four-set win against Oklahoma Baptist. She came back with 33 assists and 11 digs in a sweep of Southern Nazarene.

OTHERS NOMINATED

Odalys Gonzalez, OH (East Central), Jada Hudson, OH/RS (Southern Arkansas), Jill Leslie, MB (Oklahoma Baptist), D'Nari Mills, OH (Southeastern Oklahoma State), Hailey Smith, MH (Southwestern Oklahoma State)

Amaya Constantino, L (Southeastern Oklahoma State), Maci Langford, L (Oklahoma Baptist), Sydney Roshek, L (East Central)

Ruthie Forson, S (Southeastern Oklahoma State), Julia Kabala, S (East Central), Rylee Martin, S (Oklahoma Baptist), Morgan Schuster, S (Southern Arkansas)