SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara volleyball sophomore setter Kirsten Mead has been named West Coast Conference Player of the Week for October 5, announced by the conference Monday. Mead, who receives the award for the first time in her career, is the first Bronco to earn WCC Player of the Week honors this season.
"Kirsten had a great week. It was a tough week with three matches, so to go 3-0 was awesome for us and she was fantastic every night in all facets of her game," head coach Jon Wallace said. "She was challenged in every match and she performed extremely well.
"We have girls on every team in our conference doing spectacular things. For Kirsten to be viewed as having the best week is awesome for her and awesome for our program."
Mead tallied 132 total assists and averaged 11 assists/set last week for the WCC-leading Broncos, who at 13-4 are off to their best start since 2006. She had 13 kills and a .706 hitting percentage alongside 42 digs and five aces as the Broncos went 3-0 in the second week of conference play. Mead has recorded at least 41 assists in each her last six matches, including a season-high 50 assists as part of a 3-1 win over Portland Thursday night.
The Palo Alto, Calif. native led all players in assists during each of Santa Clara's three matches last week. She set the Broncos to a .292 hitting percentage and had 41 assists as Santa Clara swept Saint Mary's in Moraga Tuesday night. Mead posted season highs in assists (50), digs (20) and kills (6) for a double-double as the Broncos defeated Portland in their first five-set match of the season Thursday night. She recorded a double-double in her second-straight match with 41 kills and 13 digs as Santa Clara defeated Gonzaga 3-1 Saturday afternoon; the effort marked her fourth double-double in the team's last six matches.
The Broncos are on a four-match winning streak and have 10 wins in their last 12 contests overall. They travel to San Francisco for the lone match of the week Friday night at 7 p.m.
