Smith and White earn GPAC volleyball weekly honors

GPAC Release

SEWARD, Neb. – On the heels of a 6-1 start for Bulldog volleyball, sophomore Claire White and junior Carli Smith have both collected conference weekly honors, as announced by the GPAC on Tuesday. White has been named the GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Player of the Week while Smith has been tabbed GPAC/Hauff Mid-America Sports Defensive Player of the Week.

White, a native of Exeter, Neb., and transfer from Washburn University (Kan.), racked up 60 kills in powering Concordia to wins in two of three matches over the weekend at the Bellevue Labor Day Classic. She averaged 4.29 kills and 3.29 digs per game over the 14 sets she played in Bellevue. Her 21 kills against both College of the Ozarks (Mo.) and Ottawa University (Kan.) were career high totals.

On the season, White has piled up a team best 115 kills in 29 sets. Her 4.0 kills per set places her third among all GPAC players. She also has 88 digs, second on the team to Smith, and carries a .246 hitting percentage.

Smith takes GPAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career. She also received the honor once last season. The Temecula, Calif., native is off to a great start and leads the GPAC with 6.0 digs per set. She averaged 6.6 digs per set over the weekend, aided by a 35-dig performance (two short of a career high) in the five-set win over Ottawa.

Smith ranks 11th nationally in both digs per set and total digs (174). She’s also been near perfect on serve receive with a percentage of .944. She averages 8.1 service receptions per game.

White, Smith and the rest of the Bulldogs will be in action again on Wednesday night for the team’s home opener against defending GPAC regular-season champion Hastings. First serve is set for 7:30 p.m.