SARAH VON LIENEN NAMED THIS WEEK'S GSC WEST DIVISION VOLLEYBALL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

         RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas - Arkansas Tech junior middle blocker Sarah Von Lienen (Lakeland, Tenn.) continued her domination of earning Gulf South Conference West Division Volleyball Player of the Week honors on Tuesday as she was named the West Division Defensive Player of the Week by the league office in Birmingham, Ala.

It is the ninth time in her career and the third time this season that Von Lienen has been named a West Division Player of the Week. She was named the West Division’s Offensive Player of the Week last week. Last season, she was named the Defensive Player of the Week three times and earned Offensive Player of the Week honors once.

          Von Lienen, who was named the Preseason All-GSC West Division selection and was an Honorable Mention AVCA All-South Region honoree last season, earns this week’s defensive honor after helping guide the Golden Suns to open up GSC West Division play with two consecutive wins. On the week, Von Lienen recorded 11 blocks, including 10 blocks in the Golden Suns three-set win last Tuesday at Ouachita Baptist. In addition to the blocks, Von Lienen recorded 19 kills, had three service aces and hit .417 for the week.  

          On the season, Von Lienen has played in 58 of Tech’s 61 sets and leads the team in blocks (50) and solo blocks (11). In addition, she is second on the team in kills with 180 (3.10 kps) and is hitting .281, which is third-best in this week’s GSC statistics. Von Lienen has had nine double-digit kill matches and has had 10 matches with three or more blocks.

          Along with Von Lienen, the GSC named Henderson State senior outside hitter Tatiana Kuhn as the West Division’s Offensive Player of the Week. In the East Division, North Alabama junior middle blocker Sarah Roberts and West Alabama outside hitter Brittany Cousins were named the Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week respectively.

          Von Lienen and her Golden Sun teammates return to action on Tuesday, Sept. 29, when they travel to Searcy, Ark., to face Harding in a battle of two undefeated teams in West Division play. The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Rhodes Fieldhouse on the Harding campus.

          2009 Weekly GSC Volleyball Release

         -- Tech Athletics --