Baylor juniors Katie Staiger and Jana Brusek notched Big 12 Volleyball’s Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively, announced Monday afternoon by the conference office.
The Bears recorded another first, with Baylor collecting both offensive and defensive weekly honors in the same week for the first time in program history.
For Staiger, the Plano, Texas native and outside hitter has been among the nation’s best on the attack, currently sitting at second in total kills and third in kills/set, leading the Big 12 easily in both.
Over the 3-0 week for the Bears, Staiger led the conference with 64 kills and 5.82 kills/set, including 23 kills in Baylor’s sweep over No. 23 Kansas State.
Staiger’s 23 kills against KSU marked the first time since 2001 that a BU player has recorded 23 or more kills in a three-set match, additionally extending her 15-match streak of 13 or more kills.
Brusek, a Chicago, Ill., native, led the Big 12 with 65 digs and 5.91 digs/set over the three matches for Baylor. The junior libero became the seventh player in BU history to log 22 or more digs in a three-set match, notching 22 in the three-set win over KSU.
Brusek nearly topped her career-high of 28, posting 26 digs in the 3-1 win at Stephen F. Austin.
The Baylor squad picked up its second and third weekly honors of the season, with Staiger previously earning the offensive honor on Sep. 12.
The three awards for the Bears matches the single-season team program record (1999, 2007, 2009).
The last time the Bears had two weekly awards was also the last time Brusek earned Big 12 honors, double dipping for both defensive and rookie player of the week on Nov. 3, 2014.
For Staiger, it is the second offensive award of her collegiate career and her third weekly award overall, after earning Big 12 Rookie of the Week on Sept. 29, 2014.
Staiger and Brusek are joined in the weekly honors by Payton Caffrey of West Virginia (Co-Freshman), Micaya White of Texas (Co-Freshman), and Ebony Nwanebu of Texas (Co-Offensive).
