NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Davidson freshman Elena Garcia-Guerrios and Dayton junior Alayna Yates were named the Atlantic 10 Conference Volleyball Co-Players of the Week while Dayton sophomore Karissa Kaminski was chosen as the league’s Defensive Player of the Week. Additionally, Rhode Island freshman Madi Disu earned Rookie of the Week. The awards, were for games played Sept 11-19.
Garcia-Guerrios swung .358 during a 1-1 weekend where she recorded 30 kills on 67 attacks. The outside hitter from Manati, Puerto Rico, notched two-straight double doubles, with 14 kills and 17 digs in a win over in-state rival Appalachain State, and 16 kills and 18 digs during a five-set loss to Wake Forest. Garcia-Guerrios added six service aces and passed .951 on serve receive.
Yates helped lead the 25th-ranked Flyers to a perfect 3-0 weekend in front of her hometown crowd at the Northern Iowa Tournament, earning MVP honors. The middle blocker from Cedar Falls, Iowa, averaged 3.29 kills per set with a .500 hitting percentage to go with 1.29 blocks per set as Dayton won nine straight sets over Northern Illinois, North Dakota and host UNI. Against NIU, Yates recorded 11 kills, her fourth match this season with double-digit kills, and four blocks. She followed that with a seven-kill, four-block outing against Northern Iowa. She recorded five kills to zero errors in seven attempts for a .714 hitting percentage versus North Dakota.
In the perfect weekend for 25th-ranked Dayton at the Northern Iowa Tournament, Kaminski led the Flyers with 5.25 digs per set. In UD's win over host UNI, she got a match-high-tying 20 digs, her third 20-plus dig match this season, and posted a perfect 1.000 reception percentage in 29 attempts. For the weekend, the libero from Howards Grove, Wisc., also recorded a .965 reception percentage over 57 total attempts.
Disu, and outside hitter from Buda, Texas, led Rhode Island to a 2-1 week, including a five-set win over American and a sweep of Stonehill. Against American, Disu had a career-high 24 kills, including six in the decisive fifth set. It tied for the second most kills in a match by any A-10 player this season, and is tied for the fourth-most in program history since the start of the rally point era in 2001. Disu followed with her first career double-double, getting 10 kills and 11 digs in just three sets against Stonehill. In Rhody’s lone loss, she led the team with eight kills and five digs in three sets at Boston College. She averaged 3.82 kills per set, had 22 total digs and four service aces.