UTA’s Cooney Receives Sun Belt Honor
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NEW ORLEANS, La. – UT Arlington’s Caitlyn Cooney was named the Defensive Player of the Week in the Sun Belt while Qiana Canete picked up honors as the Freshman of the Week as announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
“We had a good week of volleyball,” UT Arlington coach Diane Seymour said. “We had three good wins, over three good programs, and we played well. Certainly both of them played very well and contributed in big ways for us.”
Cooney, a native of Houston, earned the award after averaging 6.44 digs per set in the Mavericks three matches this past week. The junior libero saved her best performance for last as she registered 25 digs (8.33 digs per set) in UTA’s three-set sweep of Appalachian State on Sunday. This season Cooney leads the team in digs with 375 and an average of 5.14 digs per set. Cooney currently holds the top mark in the Sun Belt and 9th in the NCAA in total digs, while also having the second best mark in the SBC and the 21st highest average in the NCAA in digs per set. This is the second time in Cooney’s career that she has earned
Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week as she picked up the honor on Oct. 28, 2013.
“It’s exciting. I feel like over the past three games I’ve had a lot more action than I have earlier in the season,” Cooney said. “It made me excited to be on the court playing and it was just a fun week especially on Sunday with me getting 25 digs.”
Canete picked up her third Freshman of the Week honor and her second in a row after notching two double-doubles over the past week of play. The Copperas Cove native averaged 4.78 digs per set and 3.33 kills per set for UTA. Canete’s best performance arguably came in the final match of the week as the freshman OH recorded 22 digs and ten kills in the three-set match. Canete leads the team in kills this season with 228 and an average of 3.12 kills per set while also sitting second on the team in digs with 288 and an average of 3.95 digs per set.
“It feels awesome,” Canete said. “I’ve worked really hard for it so it feels great. Everyone helping me stay positive is really what keeps me going.”
Cooney, Canete and the rest of the Mavericks return to action on Friday when they take on Arkansas State at College Park Center with the match slated to begin at 6:30 p.m.
