Kentucky middle blocker Heather Hausfeld has been named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week for volleyball. This is the first SEC honor for Hausfeld and the third time a UK player has earned the honor this season. Setter Sarah Rumely has been named the league’s top freshman twice this season.
“Heather is very deserving of this award,” said second-year head coach Craig Skinner. “She had a major impact on our success this past weekend and this is just the beginning of great things to come from her as a Wildcat.”
Hausfeld recorded 25 kills in the Wildcats’ two wins over Ole Miss and Mississippi State over the weekend. The freshman led the Cats and had a career-high 16 kills in the 3-1 win over Ole Miss. She hit a season-best .351 in that match, committing just three hitting errors on 37 attempts. The Cincinnati native also had four total blocks to tie her career-best against the Rebels with one block solo and three block assists. Hausfeld added nine kills in the win over MSU on Sunday to average 3.57 kills for the weekend on .305 hitting.
Hausfeld increased her season-average to 2.16 kills per game which ranks her fifth on the team. She is third on the team with six block solos and has 19 total blocks for an average of 0.44 which ranks her sixth among the Wildcats.
Kentucky is currently 14-8 on the year and 7-7 in the SEC. The Wildcats return to action Wednesday night in Knoxville as they take on Tennessee at 7 p.m. The Cats will look for the season sweep after they won the earlier matchup over the Lady Vols in Lexington.
