True freshman defensive specialist/libero Megan Kaufman earned Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for her play over the weekend, the league office announced on Monday.
This marks the second SoCon defensive weekly award for Kaufman after she claimed honors on Aug. 28. Kaufman is now the only freshman in program history to be awarded the player of the week twice in one season.
"Of all of our student-athletes, Megan is one of the strongest in our gym when it comes to attacking practice as an opportunity to get better," said head coach Travis Filar.
"She trains with a work rate and a maturity that you do not see with a lot of true freshmen, and provides us with great consistency, effort, communication and energy, and I think that is a huge part of why she is playing at such a high level."
In a five-set loss on Friday, she totaled 42 digs for the match, marking the second most digs in a match this season across all of NCAA DI and the most for a Moc since Oct.
11, 2008. Kaufman added 23 digs in just three sets in Saturday's win over UNCG, finishing the weekend with 65 digs at an 8.12 per set average. She also finished a perfect 39-for-39 on service receptions over the eight sets.
"Megan was a huge part of our success this weekend, and even though her numbers defensively were incredible, I thought she also really stepped up in serve receive and led our backcourt efficiently," added Filar.
Kaufman sits third in NCAA DI with 355 total digs while ranking fourth with a 6.23 digs per set average. Those marks rank her first among all freshmen in the respective categories.
Chattanooga continues SoCon play this weekend by traveling to The Citadel at 6 p.m. on Friday before heading to Furman for a 7 p.m. match on Saturday. Friday's match will be broadcasted LIVE on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app while Saturday's contest will be streamed LIVE on the SoCon Digital Network, courtesy of Furman athletics. Links can be found on the schedule page.
ETSU's Rylee Milhorn was awarded the Offensive Player of the Week opposite Kaufman.
2017 SoCon Volleyball Offensive Players of the Week
Aug. 28 Ally Ford, R-So., OH, Chattanooga
Sept. 4 Catie Cronister, So., OH, Wofford
Sept. 11 Paige Alsten, Jr., MB, Mercer
Sept. 18 Taylor Anderton, Jr., S, Samford
Sept. 25 Rylee Milhorn, Sr., OH, ETSU
2017 SoCon Volleyball Defensive Players of the Week
Aug. 28 Megan Kaufman, Fr., DS/L, Chattanooga
Sept. 4 Christina Gregory, Jr., DS/L, UNCG
Sept. 11 Meg DeMaar, Sr., L, Furman
Sept. 18 Taylor Gill, Jr., L, Wofford
Sept. 25 Megan Kaufman, Fr., DS/L, Chattanooga