SEWARD, Neb. – Junior Jocelyn Garcia won the GPAC’s first defensive player of the week award (announced Sept. 6). Then she topped herself with an even bigger performance on the way to repeating as the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Volleyball Defender of the Week, announced on Tuesday (Sept. 13) by the league. It’s the fifth career GPAC weekly honor for Garcia.
The native of Brighton, Colo., achieved a career milestone by surpassing 1,000 digs during action at the Five Points Invitational hosted by Hastings College this past weekend. Over last week’s four matches, Garcia averaged 6.5 digs while compiling 104 total digs over 16 sets played. Her 31 digs in the four-set win at Benedictine College (Kan.) were a career high. She also added four aces and passed serve receive at a 95.9 percent rate as the Bulldogs won three of four matches.
Among all NAIA players, Garcia currently ranks 12th in total digs (269) and 25th in digs per set (5.4). Garcia’s 559 digs in 2015 placed her seventh on the program’s all-time list of top single-season efforts.
Concordia (8-7, 0-1 GPAC) returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts College of Saint Mary (5-3, 1-1 GPAC). First serve is set for 7 p.m. from Walz Arena, where the Bulldogs have won 32 of their last 40 matches.