ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— Following a highly efficient week in which she was a force offensively and defensively, redshirt-senior middle blocker Victoria Spragg has been named the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Week, as announced by the conference on Monday.
It is the first career weekly conference honor for Spragg, and the second honor this season, as she was also named to the UNF Invitational All-Tournament Team earlier this season.
The Belen, N.M., native registered a cumulative 20 kills in the two matches against UNLV and at Air Force, with a team-best .529 hitting clip (20-2-34) and an average of 2.22 kills per set.
Versus the Rebels, the middle blocker had nine kills and zero errors on 13 attempts for a season-high .692 hitting percentage. In Sunday’s match at Air Force, Spragg tallied her first double-double of the season after recording a season-high 11 kills, hitting .429 in the match with 11 kills and two errors on 21 attempts.
In the nine sets that Spragg appeared in, the redshirt-senior contributed 3.39 points per set for the Lobos, producing 30.5 points, which was the second-highest point total on the team for the week.
While most of Spragg’s damage was done on the offensive side through timely kills, the remaining 10.5 points were as a result of four solo blocks and 13 assisted blocks.
In the 5-0 Lobo run during the fourth set against the Rebels, Spragg was responsible for three-straight points with two solo blocks and one kill to allow New Mexico to expand its 11-6 advantage to 16-6 en route to the 25-10 set victory. In the last match against the Falcons, Spragg had two late kills in the second set to help put the set away in the 25-17 win, and in the third set, had two kills and two assisted blocks to push the Lobos’ lead from 10-9 to 16-9. A late solo block and kill gave the Lobos their 23rd and 24th point in the third set in the 25-18 set win. Although UNM dropped the fourth set, Spragg played a pivotal role in the set, recording three kills and four assisted blocks as the Lobos climbed from a 13-8 deficit to a 18-15 lead.
As a team, the Lobos went 2-0 on the week, handing UNLV and Air Force its first conference losses on the season. UNM improved to 3-1 in the Mountain West, which is its best conference start since 2014 when the Cherry and Silver went 4-0.
Through the four Mountain West matches, Spragg leads the conference in hitting percentage at .438 on 33 kills and five errors on 64 attempts through 16 sets. She also ranks sixth in blocks, with four solo and 18 assisted for a 1.38 average.
On the season, Spragg is fourth on the team in kills with 98 (1.51 k/s) and in points with 139 points (2.14 points per set). She has a team-high 72 total blocks from a team-high 10 solo and 62 assisted blocks for a 1.11 blocks per set average, as well as a team-high .313 hitting percentage. In the Mountain West, the middle blocker is 10th overall in hitting percentage and ninth in total blocks.
Spragg and the Lobos have two home matches this week, starting with a Dig Pink match on Thursday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. against Nevada. UNM will close out the week with a match against San José State on Saturday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. Single-game tickets can be purchased at Johnson Center prior to the match, or fans can purchase a New Mexico Mutual Lobo Pride Pass, which grants owners access to all home games for all Olympic sports during the 2018-19 academic year. The New Mexico Mutual Lobo Pride Pass will give one person admission to all Lobo Volleyball regular season matches. For more information on the New Mexico Mutual Lobo Pride Pass please contact the Lobo Ticket Office in Dreamstyle Arena at (505) 925-LOBO.