LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced its first set of Women's Volleyball Athletes of the Week for the 2023 season. From the East, a pair of student-athletes were selected as Co-Athletes of the Week: Shippensburg's Kearstin Davis and Bloomsburg's Emma Antigua, along with Defensive Player of the Week Elise Adelman--also from Bloomsburg. In the West, Clarion's Cassidy Snider was named Athlete of the Week while Pitt-Johnstown's Gabi DeRenzo was named Defensive Athlete of the Week.
Eastern Division Co-Athlete of the Week
Kearstin Davis
Shippensburg
Setter
Sophomore
San Antonio, Tex. / Reagan
Sophomore Kearstin Davis was a crucial part of the Raiders to a 2-2 opening weekend at the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament which included a five-set win over Daemen and sweep of Lake Erie. She served 11 aces, including a career high of seven aces against Lake Erie which was the second most by a Raider in a match in the last six seasons. She also totaled 114 assists to reach the 1,000 career assists milestone and added 32 digs in 15 sets played. For her performance, Davis was named to the All-Tournament team.
Eastern Division Co-Athlete of the Week
Emma Antigua
Bloomsburg
Outside Hitter
Sophomore
Kimball, Minn. / Kimball
Antigua was named to the all-tournament team at the Vulcan Invitational after leading the Huskies in kills in all three matches, recording 62 across 15 sets (4.13 kills per set) while finishing with a .296 to begin the 2023 season. She notched the third and fourth most kills in a match in program history against West Virginia Wesleyan (23) and California (Pa.) (22) and the third and fifth most points in a game in program history in the respective matches. She also surpassed last season's best for kills in a match in all three games played over the weekend, including a career-best of 23 kills while hitting .380 against West Virginia Wesleyan. She recorded fourth career double-double and first of the season against West Virginia Wesleyan, helping Bloomsburg tie the record for the most team kills in a match in program history with 64, and followed it up with a career-high performance against the Bobcats with a 22-kill output against California (Pa.) She tallied 26 digs, three total blocks, two service aces and two assists across the opening weekend.
Eastern Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
Elise Adelman
Bloomsburg
Setter
Freshman
Pataskala, Ohio / Watkins Memorial
Adelman tied for second on the team in digs with 32 after the first weekend of play, helping align the Bloomsburg defense. She recorded first two career double-doubles against Ohio Dominican (33 assists-14 digs) and West Virginia Wesleyan (49 assists-10 digs). Her 49 assists against the Bobcats are tied for the second-most in a match in program history and the most by a freshman. She also sits tied for second most on the team with six service aces after recording five against California (Pa.) while finishing the weekend with five total blocks.
Western Division Athlete of the Week
Cassidy Snider
Clarion
Outside Hitter
Junior
Harmosburg, Pa. / Conneaut Valley
Cassidy Snider was named the MVP of the Tony Banner Memorial Tournament after helping the Golden Eagles to four consecutive wins on their home court, lighting it up on offense in the first weekend of the season. The junior outside hitter averaged 4.27 kills per set while hitting .360 for the weekend, committing just 15 errors in a team-high 136 attempts. She reached 19 kills in a five-set victory over Saginaw Valley State, and later that day authored a masterful performance against Shippensburg with 17 kills on 22 attempts for a .727 attack percentage. Snider banged out 18 kills in the weekend finale against Fayetteville State, hitting .343 in the victory.
Western Division Defensive Athlete of the Week
Gabi DeRenzo
Pitt-Johnstown
Defensive Specialist
Redshirt Junior
Pittsburgh, Pa. / Oakland Catholic
DeRenzo played in four matches at the Frostburg State (MD) Tournament, with the team accruing a 3-1 record. She averaged 5.4 digs per set, .942 reception % (5 errors, 86 attempts), and also had 11 assists and eight service aces. On 9/01 vs. Bowie State she had a match-high 15 digs, 2 aces, and 2 points, following that up with 17 digs, 5 assists, 4 aces, and 4.0 points in a five-set win against Shaw. She also tallied a team-high 26 digs in a 3-1 loss to Walsh and a match-high 23 digs in a 3-0 sweep of Frosburg State.