Colorado State University Athletics
Poletto, Hillyer earn MW Player of the Week honors
11/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Colorado State's starting middle blocker duo swept the Mountain West Player of the Week awards, the league office announced today. Junior middle blocker Alexandra Poletto took offensive honors, while redshirt freshman Kirstie Hillyer grabbed the defensive award.
The award is the fourth MW weekly honor in Poletto's career, while Hillyer's is her first. Poletto is the seventh player from CSU to win at least four weekly conference awards in her career. The pair becomes CSU's third and fourth players to receive MW Player of the Week recognition this season. Freshman setter Katie Oleksak won Offensive Player of the Week honors on Sept. 26, while junior outside hitter Jasmine Hanna earned the same award on Oct. 10.
Poletto was incredibly efficient during the week, registering 2.62 kills per set on .459 hitting. Poletto hit an incredible .818 with 9 kills in CSU's sweep of Nevada on Saturday, marking the fourth time this season the Toronto-native had hit .700 or better while posting at least 9 kills. She also tied for a team-best 12 kills at San Diego State on Thursday, leading CSU's rally to beat the Aztecs in five sets.
Hillyer was a blocking dynamo last week, posting 2.38 blocks per set and totaling 19 across two matches. Hillyer tied a personal-best with 11 blocks in the Rams sweep of Nevada, and had 6 in the first set of the match. CSU's two opponents combined to hit at just a .131 clip, and the Bayfield, Colorado native helped push CSU to 32.5 blocks as a team for the week.
The pair of middles have been strong all season for the Rams, helping the team rank first in both hitting percentage and blocking in the MW.
CSU is tied with Boise State for the top spot in the MW standings. The two teams meet in Boise on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. MT.
