Monroe Named Defensive Player-of-the-Week
November 10, 2008 | Volleyball
Nov. 10, 2008
IRVING, Texas - In the final appearances of her career inside Minges Coliseum, senior defensive specialist Trish Monroe played two of her best matches of season and was rewarded by being named the Conference USA Defensive Player-of-the-Week for the second time this season, according to an announcement made by the league office Monday afternoon.
Monroe led the team in digs with 49 last weekend in matches against Southern Miss and UCF. She also averaged an outstanding 6.12 digs per set on the weekend. During the contest with the Golden Eagles, Monroe moved into fourth-place on the Conference USA career digs leaderboard and is now just six shy of Stephanie Bishop of DePaul (1998-01) for third-place. Monroe's defense helped the Pirates hold their two foes to a combined .119 hitting percentage, including five sets where the opposition hit below .100. Offensively, she also landed her first kill of the season in the match against Southern Miss and had a service ace against the Knights.
For the year, Monroe has dug out a team-best 485 balls, one short of her career-high set last season. Her 4.37 digs per set average is also the third-best mark in C-USA. In 2008, she has finished with double-digit digs in all but six matches and has topped the 20 dig mark 11 times. If Monroe holds onto her team lead in digs this season, she will become the first ECU player to lead her team in digs each year of her career.
Conference USA also named Meredith Schamun of Rice the Setter-of-the-Week after she led the Owls to wins over UAB and Memphis with an 11.50 assists-per-set average, the second-best performance in the league for the week. It is Schamun's second straight Setter-of-the-Week honor and third of the season. The Offensive Player-of-the-Week award went to Schamun's teammate Karyn Morgan, who had a C-USA weekly-best 37 kills league-best 4.62 kills per set.
Monroe and the Pirates will return to the court on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. for the final regular season match of the season, against Marshall in Huntington, W. Va.
