RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – The Great American Conference announced the league's eighth Volleyball Player of the Week awards of the 2021 spring season. Harding's Logan Smith captured Player of the Week, Arkansas-Monticello's Katelyn Richbourg and Oklahoma Baptist's Avery Hellmuth shared Defensive Player of the Week and Southeastern Oklahoma State's Ruthie Forson claimed Setter of the Week.
GAC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Logan Smith, Harding, OH, So., Kopperl, Texas
Smith helped the Lady Bisons improve to 8-0 for the third time since joining NCAA Division II in 1997 as she collected 19 kills in a four-set victory against Ouachita. She hit .385, served up a pair of aces and added two block assists to finish with 22.0 points. Harding secured at least a share of the GAC's Eastern Division title.
GAC CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Katelyn Richbourg, Arkansas-Monticello, DS, Jr., Magnolia, Texas
Richbourg matched her season high for digs in a match with 37 in the Blossoms' four-set win against Henderson State on Tuesday. In ranks as the second-highest total in a GAC contest this season. The Blossoms notched their first win against the Reddies since November 8, 2016
GAC CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Avery Hellmuth, Oklahoma Baptist, MB, Fr., Dallas, Texas
Hellmuth turned in her top two blocking performances of her spring season as she collected seven in Friday's four-set win at Southeastern Oklahoma State and eight and Tuesday's sweep of East Central. The 15 total blocks came after she had amassed just nine in her first 16 sets of action. The Bison lead NCAA Division II averaging 3.1 blocks per set.
GAC SETTER OF THE WEEK – Ruthie Forson, Southeastern Oklahoma State, Fr., Denton, Texas
Forson helped the Savage Storm pick up their first win of season, a three-set victory against Southwestern Oklahoma State on Tuesday. She collected 30 assists in the win. The Savage Storm earned their first sweep of the Bulldogs since November 6, 2010. On Friday, she tallied 50 assists against league-leading Oklahoma Baptist.
OTHERS NOMINATED
Victoria Hamilton, MB/OH (Arkansas-Monticello), Malia Leatherland, OH (Oklahoma Baptist), Haylee Paladini, RS (Arkansas Tech), Aleksandra Rodic, OH (Southeastern Oklahoma State)
Katherine Cowart, L (Harding), Grace Shehadeh, L (Southeastern Oklahoma State)
Kaylee Buell, S (Oklahoma Baptist), Sarah Morehead, S (Harding), Katie Pearson, S (Arkansas-Monticello)
