COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M middle blocker Jazzmin Babers has been named the SEC Player of the Week for the third time this season and also has collected the league’s Defensive Player of the Week award for a fourth time, the Southeastern Conference announced today.
In addition, Stephanie Aiple has been named SEC Setter of the Week for a league-leading fifth time, sharing the honor with Alabama’s Sierra Wilson.
Babers, a redshirt junior from Bowling Green, Ohio, hit .396 and averaged 1.88 blocks, 3.12 kills and 4.06 points per set to lead Texas A&M to back-to-back Top 25 victories as the 25th-ranked Aggies swept No. 19 Kentucky, 3-0, and came back from a 2-0 deficit to post a thrilling 3-2 victory over No. 14 Florida.
In the Kentucky match Wednesday night at Reed Arena, Babers had five blocks and added eight kills while hitting .375, and she tied for team-high honors in points with 10.5 to help lead the Aggies to their first season series sweep against the Wildcats.
On Sunday, the redshirt junior posted her third double-double of the season with a match-high 10 blocks and 17 kills while hitting at a .406 clip to help lead A&M to its first-ever victory over Florida in 12 all-time meetings. Babers, whose 10 blocks ties her season high, also took match-high honors in points against the Gators with 22.0.
Babers, who has started every match (88) of her three-year career, leads the SEC with a .443 hitting percentage in conference matches only. She ranks second in blocks (1.46), sixth in points (4.17) and ninth in kills (3.38) per set in SEC matches.
Aiple, a sophomore from Round Rock, Texas, averaged 10.62 assists and 2.25 digs per set for the week as A&M extended its win streak to 12 matches and maintained its one-game lead atop the SEC standings with two matches remaining. Aiple had 32 assists and eight digs in the sweep against the Wildcats and followed that performance with her team-leading seventh double-double of the year as she tallied 53 assists and 10 digs in the victory over the Gators. It marked the seventh time she had 50 or more assists in a match this season.
Aiple ranks third in the SEC with 11.35 assists per set for the full season and 11.40 assists per set in conference matches only. She orchestrates an A&M offense that leads the league in assists (13.32) per set and is second in hitting percentage (.276) and kills per set (14.23) in SEC matches only.
Other SEC honorees are Alabama’s Kat Hutson, who was named the SEC Offensive Player of the Week, and Missouri’s Alyssa Munlyn who was named the SEC Freshman of the Week.
A&M (21-6, 14-2 SEC), aiming for its first-ever conference championship, closes out the regular season with a pair of road matches this week. On Wednesday, the Aggies take on Missouri, which is in second place in the SEC standings and only one game behind the Aggies. A&M concludes the regular season at Arkansas on Saturday.
The match against the Tigers is at 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo., and first serve of the match against the Razorbacks is at 1:30 p.m. at Barnhill Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. Both matches will be broadcast on SEC Network +.
A&M, which defeated Missouri after winning each set by the minimum two points in a 3-0 sweep earlier this month in College Station and suffered its only home loss with a 3-1 setback against the Razorbacks in the SEC opener in September, must win one of its final two matches to clinch at least a share of the SEC championship. A win against Missouri would guarantee A&M the outright championship.
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Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics