NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Dayton redshirt sophomore Lexie Almodovar was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Volleyball Player of the Week Monday, while Fordham senior Mallory Lipski was chosen as Defensive Player of the Week. Davidson freshman Emma Slusser and Fordham freshman Zoe Talabong were named Co-Rookies of the Week. The awards are for matches played from Oct. 3-9.
 
Almodovar led Dayton to a 3-0 week after averaging a team-best 4.89 kills per set and 5.50 points per set. In Tuesday's 3-0 win over Duquesne at home, she tallied a match-high 21 kills while swinging at .425 to go with seven digs. On Friday, Almodovar, an outside hitter from Noblesville, Ind., had nine kills and six digs in a 3-0 win at George Mason and followed that with a 14-kill, seven-dig outing with two aces and two assist in another 3-0 win over Mason.
 
A week after setting a new three-set program digs record, Lipski averaged a mammoth 6.69 digs across 13 sets of a 2-1 week for the Rams. The libero from Louisville, Ky., racked up 19 in a sweep at Rhode Island then 35 and 33 in back-to-back five-set thrillers with VCU. The 35 digs matched her career-high and were four fewer than the school record. She is now up to third in the A-10 with 4.79 per set over 72 frames.
 
Slusser averaged 1.75 kills per set and 2.04 points per set during another 3-0 week for Davidson, as the 'Cats remained perfect at 7-0 in A-10 play. The right side hitter from Cottage Grove, Minn., swung .288 with 21 kills and seven total blocks. Against VCU, Slusser totaled 12 kills, while being an efficient attacker against Rhody, swinging .380 across the two-match series against the Rams.
 
Talabong continues to improve as the season has gone on, helping the Rams to a 2-1 week this past week. The outside hitter from Orlando tallied eight kills and 12 digs in a sweep at Rhode Island, notched 10 kills and 15 digs in a five-set win over VCU, then nearly led her team to a second win over the visiting Rams when she racked up a career-high 15 kills to go with 12 more digs. For the week, she averaged 2.54 kills, hitting .169, and 3.0 digs per set, chipping in two aces, as well.