After her Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week award last week, redshirt junior Kirstie Hillyer added an Offensive Player of the Week to her repertoire after a pair of Colorado State sweeps. The weekly accolade was the third-consecutive for the Rams.
In the Rams’ two matches against San Diego State University and Fresno State University, Hillyer accumulated 20 kills on a .679 hitting percentage, a team-high for the week.
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Of her 20 kills, 12 came against the Bulldogs in the team’s match for first place in the conference. In the team’s previous match against the Bulldogs, Hillyer registered 12 kills as well, but on a lowly .083 percentage, one of the middle blocker’s lowest efficiencies of the year.
Along with the offensive prowess, Hillyer tallied seven total blocks, just a week after she accrued 13.
On the year, Hillyer has registered the second-most kills on the team with 254 and is on pace to pass her previous season-high of 262 within the next week. The former Bayfield High School standout has also totaled 103 blocks on the year, good for second behind fellow middle blocker, junior Paulina Hougaard-Jensen (107).
The total for Hillyer comes a year after the Rams graduated three of their top hitters last season: Jasmine Hanna, Sanja Cizmic and Alexandra Poletto. With 613 kills departing the team, Hillyer has stepped up, accumulating multiple weekly awards as well as All-MW Preseason honors.
After their sixth and seventh-straight wins, the Rams moved into first place once again in the conference. Picked to finish their year with a championship for the eighth time in the last nine years, the team has only dropped one set during their streak.
The Rams will look to continue their streak against the University of Wyoming Oct. 30 in the two teams’ second iteration of the Border War on the year.
Collegian Sports Director Luke Zahlmann can be reached at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @lukezahlmann.
