UNM sophomore middle blocker Ashley Rhoades was named the Mountain West Conference Co-Player of the Week this week.
After posting 26 kills and hitting a combined .632 in two games last week, Rhoades shares the honor with TCU’s middle blocker Kourtney Edwards.
Lobo head coach Jeff Nelson said Rhoades deserves the recognition.
“What she did this week is pretty ridiculous,” he said. “She is an amazing athlete. She hit well, didn’t have many errors and got the job done for us in the middle.”
Rhoades, a graduate of Rio Rancho High School, posted 11 kills and had no errors in last Thursday’s 3-0 win over Mountain West Conference foe San Diego State. She then added a career-high 15 kills and hit .619 en route to a Lobo sweep over Air Force on Saturday.
Rhoades said her teammates put her in a position to make big kills.
“We had great passing,” she said after Saturday’s win. “Lisa (Meeter) and Allison (Buck) did a great job of getting Jade (Michaelsen) the ball so that we could run quick attacks out of the middle.”
Rhoades said she is excited to receive her first player of the week award.
“It feels great,” she said. “I worked hard this week, and things worked out for me.”
At 5 feet 11 inches, Rhoades is undersized for a middle blocker. But what Rhoades lacks in height, she makes up for in talent, Nelson said.
“She jumps so high,” he said. “I don’t know what the scientific theories are on hang time, but it seems like she is up there forever.”
Rhoades said she gained valuable experience playing with the USA Development Team for two weeks this summer.
“I got to see other ways to play volleyball,” she said. “I also got to play with a lot of different types of players.”
Nelson said Rhoades is improving with every game she plays.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“What I’ve seen in the last three or four weeks is her transition from being an ordinary player to becoming a dominant player,” he said. “She just keeps improving each week. … Her numbers keep going up.”
*Women’s volleyball vs. BYU
Thursday, 7 p.m.
Provo, Utah
*
