Chattanooga volleyball’s Nicole Sumida (Hixson, Tenn.) was named the Southern Conference Defensive Players of the Week for Nov. 10-16 by the league’s office. It is the second weekly honor for the Mocs as Lauren Gainer (Boca Raton, Fla.) was named Student Athlete of the Week Sept. 24.
Sumida totaled 12 blocks over six sets for an average of 2.00 blocks per set in two matches last week. The junior middle blocker recorded a season-high nine blocks against Furman on Saturday to lead UTC to 11.0 total blocks. Sumida also added 12 kills and hit .391 for the two matches. The native of Hixson, Tenn. takes home the weekly defensive honor for the first time this season.
As a team, Chattanooga out-blocked Wofford 5.0 - 4.0 Friday and dominated the net against Furman 11.0 – 2.0. The Mocs rank fifth in the conference with 1.94 blocks per set. On the season, Sumida has totaled 95 total blocks for an average of 0.97 blocks per set.
With the SoCon Tournament bracket unveiled, the No. 7 seeded Mocs are set to take on No. 2 Samford Saturday at 5 p.m. in the first round of the postseason. If UTC tops the Bulldogs, it would go on to play Sunday evening at 4:30 p.m. against the winner of No. 3 UNCG and No. 6 Mercer. The championship game will be played at 6 p.m. Monday and will broadcast on ESPN3.