Volleyball

Gabby Fernandez Nets SSC Offensive Player of the Week Honor

WINTER PARK - Florida Southern right side hitter Gabby Fernandez was rewarded for her play this past weekend by the Sunshine State Conference on Monday as the sophomore was named the league's Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week presented by VALIC.

Fernandez becomes the third Moccasin to earn SSC Offensive Player of the Week honors this season and fourth Moc overall to be honored by the league. Junior setter Ali Skayhan (Beaverton, Ore.) was named the Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 24, while senior outside hitter Anne Pietkiewicz (Winter Park, Fla.) was named the Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 17 and freshman libero Arielle Fernandez (Pacifica, Calif.) earned Defensive Player of the Week accolades on Sept. 17. 

This past week, Fernandez, who helped guide the Mocs to a 2-1 record and improve to 13-6 overall on the season and move to 4-2 in the league, averaged 3.18 kills and recorded a .382 hitting percentage in three matches and 11 sets. Additionally, she averaged 0.64 service aces, 0.91 digs and 0.45 blocks per set for the week.

"Gabby really played well this past weekend," Mocs head coach Jill Stephens said.

She opened the weekend with nine kills in the Mocs three-set win at Rollins at Friday, before picking up 15 kills, three aces and hitting a season-best .481 in FSC's heartbreaking five-set loss Saturday at Florida Tech and she concluded the weekend with 11 kills, three aces and a .455 hitting percentage to help her team to a three-set home win Sunday against Lincoln Memorial.  

On the season, the Tampa, Fla., native is third on the team in kills (192) and is second on the squad in aces (19) and is hitting .220. She has also recorded 90 digs and 22 blocks and has had four double-doubles.  

Along with naming Fernendez as the Offensive Player of the Week, the league named Florida Tech junior libero Angie Lassman as its Defensive Player of the Week. Lassman earns the defensive honor after averaging 5.20 digs per set and leading the Panthers to a 3-0 record during the week, including a pair of SSC victories. She had two matches with 20 digs, including 29 in a win over Saint Leo and then added 20 digs in the win over the Mocs. Both of those matches were five-set affairs.

Fernandez and the Mocs will return to action on Tuesday as they travel to Saint Leo for a 7 p.m. SSC match, before returning home to conclude the first half of league play on Friday against Nova Southeastern. The Nova Southeastern match will begin at 7 p.m. in Jenkins Field House and the Mocs will celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness month by wearing pink jerseys.