Box Score Texas A&M middle blocker Jazzmin Babers (pronounced BAY-bers) has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced today.
It marks the third time in program history an Aggie has won the award and the first time since Christi Hahn received the accolade Nov. 21, 2005.
Babers, who on Monday was named the SEC Player of the Week for the third time this season and also received conference defensive player of the week laurels for a fourth time, 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.
The redshirt junior from Bowling Green, Ohio, posted her second double-double of the season and the third of her career 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 and extend the Aggies’ win streak to 12 matches. Babers, whose 10 blocks ties her season high, also took match-high honors in points against the Gators with 22.
Against Kentucky, 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.
Babers, who has started every match (88) of her three-year career, ranks 12th in the nation in hitting percentage (.422) and is 19th in blocks per set (1.40). In SEC matches only, Babers leads the conference with a .443 hitting percentage, and she is second in blocks with 1.46 per set.
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