Fairlawn graduate Audrey Francis has been an outstanding defensive specialist for the No. 21-ranked Wheeling Jesuit volleyball squad, and her performance hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Mountain East Conference.
The MEC announced this week that Francis has been named the Defensive Player of the Week for her efforts in four straight wins by Wheeling.
She averaged 7.23 digs per game in the four matches, led by 34 digs against Mercyhurst. That was just one shy of her career high.
She also had 24 against Clarion, 19 against Slippery Rock and 17 against Shippensburg. And for good measure, she was a perfect 42-for-42 on serve reception in the four matches.
The four wins gave Wheeling the championship of the Atlantic Region Invitational.
She followed up those four matches with 18 digs in a win Tuesday night over Indiana University-Pennsylvania (IUP).
On the season, the former Fairlawn standout now has 293 digs and is at .965 on serve reception.
Wheeling is now 9-3.
Cassie Meyer, Jackson Center
Meyer is a teammate of Francis at Wheeling, and had four strong games in the Atlantic Region Invitational, including a pair of double-doubles.
She had nine kills, 14 digs and an ace in the win over Clarion, 11 kills and 17 digs against Mercyhurst, 8 kills and 15 digs against Slippery Rock and 11 kills and 12 digs against Shippensburg.
She is second on the team in kills with 137 and is second behind Francis in digs with 151.
Raquel Kessler, Jackson Center
Kessler continues to be a big reason why Missouri-St. Louis is rolling along unbeaten at 11-0 so far this season.
The team most recently captured the championship of the Union University Classic in Tennessee, and Kessler contributed with nine kills and three digs against Alabama-Huntsville and eight kills, five digs and an ace against Union.
She is third on the team in kills so far this season with 63.
Devon Heitkamp, New Bremen
Heitkamp had a big game for Northwestern Ohio in a 3-2 win over Aquinas recently, finishing with 19 kills, three ace serves and two solo blocks.
She also had eight kills and two solo blocks in a 3-2 win over Cornerstone.
She is second on the team with 180 kills and third in ace serves with 15.
Northwestern Ohio is 13-5 on the season.
Paige Jones, New Bremen
Jones had another outstanding week for the University of Michigan.
The Wolverines avenged an earlier loss to Notre Dame by beating the Irish 3-1 behind 15 kills, 12 digs and two blocks from the former New Bremen standout.
She followed that with 13 kills and 10 digs in a 3-0 win over Rutgers.
On the season, Jones leads Michigan with 129 kills, is second on the team with 14 ace serves and third with 92 digs.
Katelyn Sosby, Jackson Center
Sosby had an excellent week at Edison State, led by the six-kill, 21 dig performance in a 3-2 loss to Sinclair.
She also had 12 digs and an ace in a loss to Owens Tech.
Whitney Pleiman, Russia
Pleiman ran her season dig total to 319 with two more good games for Edison State this week.
She had 27 digs in the 3-2 loss to Sinclair, and 12 digs in the loss to Owens Tech.
Tayler Doty, New Knoxvlle
Doty had three kills, two solo blocks and two block-assists for Sinclair in the win over Edison, 10 kills in a 3-0 loss to Owens and five kills in a 3-0 win over McComb Community College in action this week.
She is third for Sinclair in kills with 119 and third in total blocks with 28. She also has 78 digs.
Sinclair is having a good year, currently standing 13-5.
Danielle Barhorst, Minster
Barhorst now has 58 kills on the season for Sinclair after finishing with eight in the win over Edison State.
She also has 66 digs and is tied for third on the team with eight solo blocks.
Arielle Snider, Sidney
Snider had a solid week at defending national champion Owens Tech.
She finished with five kills against Sinclair, six kills and a solo blocks against Lorain County and five kills and five total blocks against Muskegon Community College, all wins for Owens.
She is fifth on the team with 88 kills, fourth with 32 total blocks, and third with 12 solo blocks.
Kristin Langston, Versailles
Langston plays for Ohio Northern, which is 10-3 so far.
She had nine digs and an ace in a win over Kenyon, and 16 digs and two aces in a 3-2 win over Muskingum.
• Football
Devan Rogers, Sidney
Rogers was in the starting lineup at defensive tackle in Toledo’s 41-35 win at Colorado State Saturday night.
He finished with four tackles, including one unassisted.
Isaiah Bowser, Sidney
Bowser returned to the lineup at Northwestern after having to sit out with an injury, and he found the going tough against Michigan State’s top-ranked defense.
He carried 13 times for 39 yards in the loss to the Spartans.
• Golf
Clay Quellhorst, New Bremen
Quellhorst plays on the Bluffton men’s golf team, and last week in the Lourdes Invitational, he was fourth for his team and 31st overall with an 84.
