Manthorpe, Fournier Named Players of the Week
11/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. - Seton Hall senior Stacey Manthorpe (Merion Station, Pa.) was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week, while sophomore Tessa Fournier (Redondo Beach, Calif.) was named BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Week on Monday.
It's the first time in history that Seton Hall has swept the two main weekly awards.
Manthorpe earns Offensive Player of the Week recognition for the first time this season after being named to the Weekly Honor Roll four times. The outside hitter was instrumental in guiding the Pirates to a perfect 3-0 record last week. On Tuesday vs. LIU-Brooklyn, Manthorpe had a team-high 16 kills to go with eight digs and an impressive .419 attack percentage. On Thursday, she had a double-double with a team-high 17 kills to go along with 18 digs and three blocks at St. John's. On Saturday at Providence, Manthorpe tallied 14 kills and 13 digs in only three sets. Her two double-doubles last week give her a team-leading 18 on the season and 55 for her career.
Fournier is named Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career after earning the Weekly Honor Roll twice earlier this season. Last week, the sophomore took another step towards establishing herself as the pre-eminent libero in the BIG EAST. Fournier recorded 20+ digs in all three matches. Against LIU on Tuesday, she tallied a match-high 29 digs. On Thursday at St. John's, Fournier had 23 digs, and on Saturday at Providence, she had a match-high 28 digs and four assists. She averaged 7.27 digs per set in a strong defensive week. To date, Fournier leads the BIG EAST in digs and digs per set.
Xavier's Jesse Earl was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week. Members of the Weekly Honor Roll include Creighton's Kelli Browning, St. John's Karin Palgutova, Xavier's Aubree Smith and both Autumn Bailey and Lindsey Gosh of Marquette.
Manthorpe, Fournier and the rest of the Pirates will return to action this Saturday when they return to Walsh Gym to host Villanova. The match is scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. start.
