Eastern Mennonite junior William Ragland (North Chesterfield, Va./Thomas Dale) has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Player of the Week.
Earning the national award comes on the heels of Ragland being named the Continental Volleyball Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season.
Ragland led the No. 9 Royals to a three straight wins last week, including a 3-1 decision over No. 15 Juniata. He led all players with 18 kills in the match, to go with a career high six service aces and eight digs. Ragland added 13 kills in a CVC sweep of Thiel and had five aces in a sweep of York (N.Y.).
For the week, the outside hitter averaged 3.60 kills with a .373 hitting percentage, along with 11 aces and 18 digs. In the two CVC matches where he played his traditional role on the floor, Ragland averaged 4.43 kills per set.
On the season, Ragland is second in the CVC with 38 aces and sixth with a .322 hitting percentage. He has been even better in conference play, with 3.50 kills per set, a .431 hitting percentage and 15 aces. Each of those numbers are top-five in the CVC.
Click here to see the official release from the AVCA.
This is the first national player of the week award for EMU men's volleyball since Jay Sawicki in 2004, and third overall. It's also the second such award for a Continental Volleyball Conference player this season, with Marymount setter Erich Bratke winning two weeks ago.
Eastern Mennonite hosts the Saints in a huge CVC showdown on Wednesday, with an early start time at 5:00pm. Each team has just one loss in conference play, leaving the winner of Wednesday's match in the driver's seat to earn the top seed and right to host the CVC Tournament.
The Royals are 18-6 on the season, including 7-1 in the CVC.
STORY COURTESY OF EASTERN MENNONITE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION