CANTON, Ga. - The first weekend of the Southern Athletic Association volleyball season featured 17 nonconference matches among the league’s seven squads. Rhodes went 2-0 at home to lead the way while Centre was 3-1 on its California trip, including an upset of No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Oglethorpe and Millsaps were both 2-1 during opening weekend.
Around the SAA:
Athletes of the Week:
OFFENSIVE:
Mack Turner | Centre | Sophomore | Knoxville, Tenn. - In Friday's season opener against Whittier, Mack Turner set a new career high with 15 kills as Centre began the season with a 3-2 victory. She had an even better day on Saturday as she established yet another new career high with 18 kills against zero errors for a .486 hitting percentage to help Centre defeat no. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Against Pomona-Pitzer later that day, Turner hit over .400 again, with 13 kills and 4.5 blocks as the Colonels earned another victory in California.
DEFENSIVE:
Madi Barron | Centre | Fifth-Year | North Fort Myers, Fla. - averaged 19 digs per match and nearly five digs per set across four matches this week for Centre at the Pacific Coast Classic in California. The nation's no. 3 active digs leader had a season high 28 in five sets in a Centre win over Whittier on Friday. On Saturday against no. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Barron finished with 23 more digs as the Colonels pulled off their highest ranked victory in program history.
Notable Performances:
- Adilynn Henry (Hendrix) Led Hendrix to a 2-1 record all in one day at the St. Thomas Invitational. She posted an average of 4.18 assists per set for the day and tallied five aces.
- Ally Baer (Millsaps) was critical in the Majors offense and a big reason Millsaps started the season 2-1. She hit .300 with 30 kills and a game high of .500 vs. Centenary College
- Kym Young (Rhodes) stepping into her role as the lone Lynx senior very well. She hit .667 in the first match and .471 in our second for 12 kills out of 20 swings with only two errors. She also contributed 4 blocks to the weekend.
- Kate Whittle (Berry) paced the Vikings defense during two 5-set matches over the weekend. Whittle recorded an SAA-high 5.6 digs/set, including recording 36 digs against Washington and Lee. Kate also added 6 service aces in two matches. For her efforts she was named All-Tournament team.
- Mary Addisyn Stubbs (Hendrix) began the day as a DS, but then ended up being Warriors Libero for 2 of the 3 matches we played and was the leader of the back row. She recorded 37 total digs and 49 reception attempts with only one error.
- Sandy Bourgeois (Millsaps) had a solid weekend with 55 digs and 5.0 digs/set. In her first time in the libero position, she commanded the court and lead the Majors defense.
- Rachel Clarke (Rhodes) came alive during opening weekend both defensively and offensively. In two matches, she leads the SAA with 1.14 blocks per set and had a total of eight for the weekend.
2024 Volleyball Report Archive:
Week 1 – Sept. 3