PSAC Volleyball Athletes of the Week – 2
LOCK HAVEN, Pa. --- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference office announced this week’s women’s volleyball athletes of the week. Over in the PSAC East, East Stroudsburg University swept the awards with Ali Finch being named Athlete of the Week and Emily Meredith being named Defensive Athlete of the Week. In the PSAC West, The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown’s Lauren Gechter was named Athlete of the Week and from California University of Pennsylvania, Kelly Lynch was named Defensive Athlete of the Week.
The athletes of the week and their accomplishments are listed below:
EAST
Athlete of the Week
East Stroudsburg
Ali Finch
Senior
Setter
Cadillac, Mich. / Cadillac
As the setter, Finch did a little bit of everything to help the Warriors to a 3-1 weekend at the ESU Invitational as she tallied 25 kills, 134 assists and 40 digs. She also added nine blocks to go along with a .319 attack percentage. Finch also recorded a pair of double-doubles with 25 assists/11 digs versus Pitt-Johnstown and 42 assists/12 digs against Kutztown. The senior's numbers earned her a spot on the All-Tournament team.
Defensive Athlete of the Week
East Stroudsburg
Emily Meredith
Senior
Defensive Specialist
Canton, Mich. / Canton
Serving as the libero in all four matches, Meredith had an impressive defensive showing to help the Warriors to a 3-1 weekend at the ESU Invitational. She recorded 73 digs, 20 assists and three aces. In her first match against Saint Anselm, she tallied 26 digs and added an ace. Against Pitt-Johnstown, she tallied 22 digs, returned with 15 against Kutztown and closed out the weekend with 10 in a match win versus Caldwell.
WEST
Athlete of the Week
Pitt-Johnstown
Lauren Gechter
Junior
Middle Hitter
Wyomissing, Pa. / Wyomissing
Lauren Gechter helped Pitt-Johnstown to a 5-1 week, including an undefeated weekend at the ESU Invitational. She couldn’t miss on the attack throughout the week tallying a .471 hitting percentage. She finished her six matches on the week with double-digit kills in all but one. Perhaps her two best contests were the final two of the weekend against St. Anselm and Caldwell. Matching up with Saint Anselm she had a .632 attack percentage tallying 13.5 points on 13 kills and a block. To conclude the week, Gechter had a .767 attack percentage against Caldwell with 10 kills and a pair of solo blocks.
Defensive Athlete of the Week
Cal U
Kelly Lynch
Junior
Defensive Specialist
Broadview Heights, Ohio / Holy Name
Lynch was named to the Vulcan Invitational All-Tournament Team over the weekend, as Cal U played four in-region matches at its home event. She averaged 3.80 digs per set and added a total of 24 assists and four service aces while serving as the team’s libero. Lynch collected 12 digs, seven assists and two aces on Thursday night in a 3-1 loss against Shippensburg to open play at the Vulcan Invitational. The Ohio native registered 21 digs and eight assists in a 3-1 victory over Frostburg State on Friday before tallying 11 digs and five assists in a 3-0 loss to Bloomsburg later that day. Lynch closed the weekend with 13 digs and four assists on Saturday in a 3-1 loss against West Liberty.
ABOUT THE PSAC
Headquartered in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is an NCAA Division II Conference comprised of 18 institutions in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The member institutions are Bloomsburg University, California University of Pennsylvania, Clarion University, East Stroudsburg University, Edinboro University, Gannon University, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Kutztown University, Lock Haven University, Mansfield University, Mercyhurst University, Millersville University, The University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown, Seton Hill University, Shepherd University, Shippensburg University, Slippery Rock University and West Chester University.