After helping Seattle University pick up victories over Chicago State and Missouri-Kansas City over the weekend, senior middle blocker Martina Samadan (Split, Croatia) has been named the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for the third time this season, as announced Monday morning by the league office.
Last Thursday, Samadan notched her first double-double of the season as she helped the Redhawks rally from a 2-0 match deficit to defeat Chicago State, 3-2. Samadan finished with 10 kills and 12 total blocks, the most blocks she has earned in a single match during her Seattle U career and the second-highest total of blocks by an individual in a match in program history. In the final three sets, Samadan was 7-for-12 in attack attempts without an error (.583), plus she posted eight blocks.
This past Saturday against Missouri-Kansas City, Samadan finished with 17 kills while making just two attack errors in 27 attempts for a .556 hitting percentage, the sixth time this season she has earned a hitting percentage of at least .500 in a single match. She also collected a season-high four service aces and six total blocks, leading the Redhawks in both categories as they defeated the Kangaroos in four sets.
In all matches, Samadan leads the WAC and is eighth in the country with a .433 hitting percentage, plus she is second in the league and 51st in Division I with 1.24 blocks per set. In WAC matches only, she is first in the conference in hitting percentage (.438) and blocks per set (1.32), and she is fifth in the league in kills per set (3.27).
This is the third time this season Samadan has been named WAC Player of the Week, previously earning the honor Sept. 21 and Oct. 5. Her first conference weekly award came on Oct. 21, 2013, after leading Seattle U to three straight league victories.
Seattle University (14-8, 6-3 WAC) takes its final regular season road trip of the season, facing CSU Bakersfield Thursday, Oct. 29, and Grand Canyon Saturday, Oct. 31. Thursday’s match at CSU Bakersfield will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/live) starting at 7 p.m., while the Halloween contest against Grand Canyon is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.