Whaley Named Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week
Outside hitter Berkley Whaley earns her second National honor in her career as a Spartan. The senior led the Spartan offense to a pair of SSC wins this past week to close out the regular season and secure the No. 2 seed in the South Region Tournament.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – For the second time in her career, senior outside hitter Berkley Whaley has earned Sports Imports/ AVCA National Player of the Week after leading the University of Tampa volleyball team to a pair of victories to close out the regular season.
Whaley was the offensive catalyst for the Spartans, blasting a 37-kill barrage between two Sunshine State Conference wins against Lynn University and Nova Southeastern University.
The St. Petersburg, Fla. native hit .461 on the week, committing just two attack errors in 76 swings while averaging 5.29 kills per set. In a 3-0 sweep of Lynn, Whaley unloaded 15 kills at a .467 clip from the outside pin, adding six digs and a block. The senior followed with a double-double performance, swatting 22 kills to combine with 13 digs in a 3-1 win over Nova Southeastern University.
The outside hitter has led the Spartans in kills in each of the past three seasons, reaching her 1000th kill as a member of the Tampa volleyball team. This season, Whaley has 428 kills this season at an even .300 attack percentage, posting her best defensive season with 337 digs.
The award is the second National Player of the Week for Whaley, as the outside hitter received the accolade her sophomore season on Oct. 22, 2013. The Spartans have totaled six National Player of the Week awards in program history as Danielle Selkridge earned three (10/12/2010, 10/23/2012, 11/20/2012) in addition to the pair from Whaley. Ania Ruiz was the first UT volleyball athlete to garner the award, winning on Nov. 17, 2003.
Click here for the complete AVCA release
Fans may follow University of Tampa athletics on Twitter and Instagram (@tampaspartans) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/tampaspartans). UT also offers a free text messaging service that sends text alerts following all Spartan events. To sign up, please register at www.tampaspartans.com.