Oregon sophomore Alaina Bergsma received the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week Award Tuesday afternoon.
The outside hitter from Chandler, Ariz., helped No. 11 Oregon (14-0, 2-0 Pacific-10 Conference) to a monumental sweep of the Washington schools last weekend. The Ducks first defeated returning NCAA qualifier Washington State (6-6, 0-2 Pac-10) then followed that contest with a 3-1 victory over then-No. 7 Washington (12-1, 1-1 Pac-10). That win was its first the Ducks had over Washington in Eugene in 10 years and ended the unbeaten Huskies’ 36-set, season-long win streak.
Bergsma played a key role in those wins after posting season highs in kills (21), points (23) and hitting (.559). Her kill tally was the highest among the team this season, while her hitting mark was the third-best effort this season and tops among outputs of 15 kills or more.
Prior to the week only Eastern Illinois’ Kelsey Orr had been able to tally more than 10 kills against the Washington front line. Orr had nearly half that of Bergsma as she finished with only 11.
Oregon hit .275 as a team and nearly quadrupled UW’s opponent season hitting average (.074) that led the Pac-10 last week, largely in part to Bergsma’s performance.
She became the third Duck outside hitter to claim national AVCA Player of the Week honors in the last four seasons.
Sonja Newcombe picked up similar honors in 2009 after the team’s wins against Stanford and California in Eugene, and in 2008 after home victories over USC and UCLA. Gorana Maricic was likewise tabbed in 2007 after wins over USC and UCLA at McArthur Court.
Earlier this week, Bergsma picked up Oregon’s 16th Pac-10 Player of the Week in school history, and the seventh in sixth-year head coach Jim Moore’s tenure.
Oregon heads to the Bay Area to face another pair of unbeaten league foes this weekend; No. 8 California (12-0, 2-0 Pac-10) on Friday and No. 1 Stanford (11-0, 2-0 Pac-10) on Saturday.
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