All-American Dani Drews Named Pac-12 Volleyball Player Of The Week
One week into the 2021 season and Dani Drews is picking up right where she left off last year.
The senior outside hitter, a first-team All-American from last season, was named the Pac-12 player of the week after recording 28 kills and leading the Utes to two dominant victories over Arizona.
This was the first step in the right direction for Drews, who is hoping to lead Utah further than last season when they were eliminated by Pac-12 foe Stanford in the Round of 16 during the NCAA Tournament.
She notched 15 kills in the season-opening 3-0 victory over the Wildcats, and followed that up with 13 kills two days later in taking down Arizona 3-0 again. More than just an offensive player, Drews recorded 12 kills on Friday and nine more on Sunday.
It's the third time in Drews' career that she's been named conference player of the week. The Utes entered the season No. 10 in the nation and the Pac-12 favorites, but saw themselves jump to No. 8 following the weekend sweep.
Oregon’s Georgia Murphy was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week while Arizona State's Marta Levinska earned Conference Freshman of the Week honors.
Her junior season was historic as she set the program single-season record with 643 kills, being named the Pacific South Region Player of the Year. She set a program record with 33 kills against USC, all while finishing third in the Pac-12 with 4.76 kills per set.
Drews was named a first-team All-American this past season, the second year in a row she received All-American honors (first time being first-team). It's only the second time in program history that a Ute garnered first team honors.
"We couldn't be more proud of Dani," Utah head coach Beth Launiere said. "Becoming a two-time All-American and garnering first-team honors this year is an amazing honor for her and our program. Dani worked hard this past year to improve every aspect of her game and has become one of the top all-around players in the country."
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