NEW ORLEANS – After helping lead the University of South Alabama volleyball team to the program's first-ever road win at Little Rock over the weekend, junior outside hitter Mechell Daniel was selected as the Sun Belt Conference's Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week on Monday as announced by the league office.
The award marks the second time in her career that Daniel has been chosen as the top offensive player of the week, earning the honor on Nov. 11, 2013 during her freshman season. The conference weekly award is the seventh of Daniel's career as she was also named the top freshman five times during the 2013 season.
Daniel is the second Jag this season to earn a weekly award from the SBC, as sophomore setter Emma Anderson did so back on Sept. 28. Daniel marks the 18th time a Jaguar has been selected for any weekly conference honor in the program's history.
This past week, Daniel continued to show why she is one of the top outside hitters in the Sun Belt. The Chelmsford, England, native recorded 37 kills in USA's two matches and averaged 4.62 kills per set. She also hit .309, committing just eight attack errors in her 94 attempts. Daniel was also solid in the back court for the Jaguars defensively as she had 30 digs for a 3.72 digs per set average. Daniel also averaged 5.12 points per set in her two outings, as she had four or more kills in all but two of her eight sets.
On Friday, Daniel just missed a double-double as she had 16 kills and nine digs, while hitting season-best .433 in the match versus the Red Wolves.
She was even better on Saturday and was instrumental in helping South Alabama rally back from a 2-1 deficit on the road at Little Rock. Daniel posted her ninth double-double of the season with 21 kills and a career-high 21 digs versus the Trojans, marking the first time a Jag had done so in a match since the 2010 season.
Daniel saved her best performance versus Little Rock over the final two sets. In the fourth set with USA trailing by four, Daniel had three kills during a 6-0 Jaguar run, and later broke an 18-18 tie with a kill and an ace. The junior then sealed the 25-23 fourth-set win with her seventh kill of the set. In the fifth set, Daniel added four more kills, seven digs and a block assists to help South Alabama complete the comeback.
Daniel is now tied for second in the SBC in kills as she has 3.73 per set, while also averaging 2.41 digs per set and a .271 hitting percentage. In South Alabama's nine conference matches, she is averaging 4.25 kps.
South Alabama returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Texas State in the program's annual "Dig Pink" match. First serve versus the Bobcats is set for 12 p.m. at Jag Gym.
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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