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Gabi Peoples collects honor on offense; Devyn Pritchard garners accolade on defense
Source: goaztecs.com
Photo: Gabi Peoples was named MW Offensive Player of the Week after helping the Aztecs to a pair of home victories over Boise State and Utah State. Courtesy goaztecs.com
October 23, 2017 (San Diego) - Fresh off a pair of impressive victories over Boise State and Utah State, the San Diego State volleyball team collected two Mountain West awards on Monday as Gabi Peoples (Beaverton, Ore.) was named Offensive Player of the Week, while Devyn Pritchard (Temecula, Calif.) was selected Defensive Player of the Week. The two accolades were the first career honors for the Aztec teammates.
In two matches, Peoples dished out 12.67 assists per set (114 total) averaging 4.10 helpers more than her season clip of 8.57 per frame entering the week, as the Scarlet and Black completed a 2-0 homestand. Against Boise State, the freshman setter handed out a career-high 62 assists, which marks the highest total in the MW so far this year. With her crisp passing, SDSU had five players surpass the double-digit plateau in kills. She also added four digs, two block assists and a kill, helping the Aztecs snap a six-match losing streak against Boise State in a 3-2 thriller last Thursday.
In SDSU’s four-set triumph over Utah State on Saturday, Peoples contributed 52 assists and added two clutch kills and a service ace, helping the Aztecs avenge an earlier loss to the Aggies their conference opener on the road last month.
With her totals, Peoples has amassed over 50 assists in three of the last four matches, climbing to sixth in the MW rankings with an average of 9.04 assists per set for the season. She is also averaging 11.00 helpers per frame in conference matches, which ranks second in the league.
Pritchard, meanwhile, posted 44 digs last week for an average of 4.89 per set and finished with a clean slate of zero reception errors. Against Boise State, the senior libero recorded a career-high 33 digs, which marked the highest total in a MW match this year and tied for the second-most overall. With her effort, Pritchard anchored a defense that limited the Broncos to 12.8 kills per set during the contest, which was 1.3 less than its league-leading season average of 14.1 entering the match.
Two days later against Utah State, Pritchard registered a team-high 11 digs, contributing to a defense that held the Aggies to a .172 hitting percentage, .039 points below their season average of .211 entering the contest. She also added an assist and a service ace in the victory.
With her performances, Pritchard extended her streak of double-digit digs to 16 consecutive matches. During that span, she has surpassed 20 scoops on eight occasions. In addition, she has now finished with zero reception errors five times in her last seven outings.
In conference matches this year, Pritchard leads the MW with 5.43 digs per set and ranks third with an average of 4.55 per frame.
Along with Peoples and Pritchard, San Diego State (11-12, 5-5 MW) will hit the road this week for a pair of MW showdowns at Nevada (Oct. 26) and San José State (Oct. 28).
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