NORFOLK, Va., Nov. 14, 2022—Howard University freshman outside hitter Rya McKinnon was selected as the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Volleyball Player of the Week, presented by Coca-Cola, the conference office announced today. She was also named Rookie of the Week and Howard University senior Kayla Diaz named Setter of the Week, while Delaware State sophomore middle blocker Kelsie Dawson earned Defensive Player of the Week honors.
 
McKinnon (5-11, Fr., OH, Bessemer, Ala.) hit a combined .493 in a pair of wins over Norfolk State in the final week of the regular season, averaging 6.4 kills and 2.4 digs per set. She opened with a career-high 23 kills against the Spartans in a four-set, midweek win, hitting .500 and adding eight digs and two service aces. On Friday, she added 22 kills on .486 hitting, falling one dig shy of a double-double and notching two more aces.
 
Diaz (5-7, Sr., S, Nanuet, N.Y.) averaged 12.9 assists per set as the Bison defeated Norfolk State twice this past week, quarterbacking a Bison offense that hit .368 in Wednesday’s four-set win and .282 in Friday’s sweep. She racked up 53 assists in Wednesday’s match-up (her third 50-assist match of the season), while also recording seven digs and a service ace, and on Friday, she had 37 assists and three aces.
 
Dawson (6-1, So., MB, Nashville, Tenn.) averaged 1.5 blocks per set as Delaware State won matches over Morgan State and Maryland Eastern Shore to wrap up the regular season on a six-match winning streak. She closed the season on Friday with six blocks against rival UMES, and in a midweek, make-up match against Morgan State, she had three total blocks.
 
Other Top Performers
Kennedy Beatty (Coppin State) had two service aces against Morgan State.
 
Ashley Roman (Coppin State) recorded 10 digs against Morgan State.
 
Andrea Tsvetanova (Coppin State) had 27 assists and three service aces against Morgan State.
 
Ammaarah Williams (Coppin State) recorded 10 kills and eight digs against Morgan State.
 
Malgorzata Andersohn (Delaware State) recorded 24 assists against Morgan State and 21 against Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
Sydney Lewis (Delaware State) had nine kills and four blocks against Maryland Eastern Shore.
 
Charlize Williams (Maryland Eastern Shore) had five blocks against Morgan State, then closed out the regular season with a 9-kill, 3-block effort against Delaware State.
 
Isil Yilmaz (Maryland Eastern Shore) racked up 27 digs against Morgan State.
 
Carla Hernandez (Norfolk State) racked up 17 kills and 11 kills, respectively, in two matches against Howard.
 
Sydney McCree (Norfolk State) had 27 assists and 21 assists each in a pair of matches against Howard.
 
Abby Vacha (North Carolina Central) racked up a career-best 13 kills on .440 hitting against South Carolina State.