Kadjeski, Leite-Ah Yo Net Program's First Weekly Awards
GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – Sophomore Meredith Kadjeski (Mechanicsburg, Pa.) and freshman Anuhea Leite-Ah Yo (Hilo, Hawaii) were selected as the North Eastern Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon. Kadjeski picked up the league's general Player of the Week award while Leite-Ah Yo was recognized as the Defensive Player of the Week.
With the two award winners, the women's volleyball team at Wells picked up their first-ever weekly award wins from the North Eastern Athletic Conference. In only its third year as a modern-era varsity program, the Express have dramatically improved their record and currently boast a 20-10 overall mark after winning only five matches in 2013.
The Express posted a 2-1 record across three contests last week, including a 3-2 victory against Ithaca on Wednesday which proved to be Wells' first against a 20-win program. The team later fell to Scranton, also a 20-win program, in four sets before blanking Rutgers-Camden by a 3-0 margin to earn their team's own 20th win of the season.
Kadjeski opened the week by tying her own program record for kills in a match after hammering home 23 kills with a .326 hitting percentage against Ithaca on Wednesday. Earning Most Valuable Player honors in the first-ever Cayuga Cup match between the two Finger Lakes-rivals, she also posted added seven digs, three aces and two solo blocks for the Express.
She added 18 more kills during a tri-match with Scranton and Rutgers-Camden on Saturday, including seven kills to go along with five aces and three assists in a 3-0 sweep over the latter squad. Kadjeski is now fifth in the conference in serve aces (63) and sixth in aces per set (0.59) for the Express.
Leite-Ah Yo began the week with a match-high 24 digs to go along with five kills and two aces in her team's 3-2 win over Ithaca on Wednesday. She also registered double-digit dig totals during a nonconference tri-match Saturday, as she tallied 12 digs in a loss to Scranton before posting 10 digs to help the Express sweep Rutgers-Camden 3-0. She ranks 14th overall in the conference with 306 total digs and 17th overall in digs per set (2.94).
Eyes around the North Eastern Athletic Conference will be focused on the Farenthold Athletic Wing as the Express host the Keuka College Wolfpack in a 6 p.m. contest on Tuesday, Oct. 28. With a Keuka victory over the Express, the Wolfpack would claim the No. 1 seed in the NEAC and host the upcoming women's volleyball tournament. If Wells wins, Gallaudet will have clinched the No. 1 seed and the tournament will be hosted by the Bison in Washington, D.C.
Seniors Taryn Heath (Truxton, N.Y.) and Jessilyn Artaho-Aki (Kapa'a, Hawaii) will also be honored for their contributions to the program in a pre-match ceremony on Senior Day.
