AVCA -- Ferris State University junior Allyson Cappel was selected Division II American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) National Player of the Week following a statement weekend which saw the Bulldogs go 4-0 with a pair of Top 25 victories, including a sweep of the top-ranked team in the country.
Cappel, the reigning GLIAC Player of the Year, led the now fourth-ranked Bulldogs to a perfect record in the Ferris State Invitational . Cappel tallied 4.64 kills and 3.86 digs per set while hitting .244 for the weekend as the Bulldogs beat two nationally-ranked teams along with two others receiving votes in the AVCA preseason poll. She compiled 65 kills, 54 digs, seven blocks and two aces in wins over Upper Iowa, No. 17 Winona State, No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul and Hillsdale. Cappel netted 22 kills and 23 digs in a key regional win over Hillsdale to wrap up the event and also had a team-high 12 kills and 10 digs while hitting an impressive .303 in Friday night's impressive 3-0 sweep over defending national-champion and preseason top-ranked Concordia-St. Paul. Overall, she averaged 5.1 points per set.
Ferris State returns to action next weekend in Lakeland, Fla. where the Bulldogs will battle a pair of Top 25 opponents in No. 23 Florida Southern and No. 25 Tampa as well as Drury and Rollins. FSU will begin conference play the following weekend when they welcome Parkside and Purdue Northwest to Big Rapids.
Individual Weekly Stats
SP:14
K/S: 4.64
Hitting %: .244
D/S: 3.86
B/S: 0.50
Team Recap
August 23: RV Upper Iowa, W 3-1
August 24: No. 17 Winona State, W 3-0
August 24: No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul, W 3-0
August 25: RV Hillsdale, W 3-1
Head Coach: Tia Brandel-Wilhelm
AVCA Rankings: Last Week: 21, This Week: 4
Cappel helped the Bulldogs skyrocket from No. 21 in the #AVCA Preseason Coaches Poll to No. 4 this week…Smashed no fewer than 12 kills in the four matches…Notched a trio of double-doubles, including a 20-kill and 20-dig performance against Hillsdale…Led the team in kills (12), hit .303, and collected 10 digs in the upset victory over then-No. 1 Concordia-St. Paul.
This is the fourth Sports Imports/AVCA Player of the Week for Ferris State, and the first since Stephanie Sikorski took home the honor on October 20, 2015.
