Oct. 5, 2015 DAVIS, Calif. - UC Davis senior outside hitter Kaylin Squyres was selected as Big West Conference Player of the Week while libero Malia Bolko claimed Defensive Player of the Week distinction, as the conference announced its weekly honors Monday afternoon.
This is the first such honors for an Aggie since November 3, 2014, when Squyres won her third POW award. Bolko becomes the first UC Davis freshman to claim the honor since the trio of Squyres,
Katie Quinn and
Aima Eichie swept all three nods on October 6 last year.
Squyres managed a robust 6.12 per-set average in the Aggies' victories over UC Riverside and UC Irvine last week. She began the weekend with 24 kills, 13 digs and two aces in Thursday's four-set win over the Highlanders. Then on Saturday, the Rocklin, Calif. native tallied 25 kills on 62 swings in UC Davis' comeback triumph over the Anteaters. Squyres had 17 kills and just one error in the final two sets. In doing so, she also became just the ninth player in school history to surpass 1,000 kills in a career. Squyres' overall numbers for the week: 49 kills, 123 attempts, .285 hitting three aces, only two receptions errors and 21 digs.
Bolko, an alumna of St. Patrick-St. Vincent High School and Xceleration VBC, averaged 5.25 digs per set in the wins on Thursday and Saturday. She scooped up 25 in Thursday's match against UC Riverside, then followed with another 17 against UC Irvine on Saturday. Bolko also had nine assists and an ace, while allowing only two aces as one of the Aggies' primary passers. She leads UC Davis with 4.03 digs per set, 4.60 in Big West play.
The Aggies continue their four-match homestand on Thursday against UC Santa Barbara. Match time is 7 p.m.
