Bragg, Frey, and Ieremia Sweep League Player-of-the-Week Awards

Volleyball | Mon, Nov. 14, 2022 at 11:00 AM
| by Jake Chipka

Crossroads League Release | TU Honors Page

JACKSON, Mich. – The Crossroads League released its latest collection of weekly awards on Monday, in which the Crossroads League Tournament Champions, No. 11 Taylor (30-5), swept the volleyball awards for the second time in 2022.

Senior, Kacy Bragg, nabbed her eighth setter-of-the-week award in 2022, while sophomore mid-hitter, Grace Ieremia, received her fifth defender-of-the-week honor and junior outside hitter, Anna Frey, earned her first attacker-of-the-week recognition while sporting a Trojan uniform.

This Trojan trio energized Taylor en route to its first Crossroads League Tournament Championship since 2010. Throughout the semifinal and championship rounds, Taylor dropped a mere one set while flexing its all-around strength against RV Bethel and No. 21 Marian.

Bragg orchestrated the Trojan offense, while also dynamic on defense, averaging 10.43 assists-per-set, alongside 1.86 digs, 1.57 kills, and 1.00 blocks-per-set. TU’s senior from Warsaw, Indiana, notched her 17th 40-plus-assist performance of the season in Taylor’s semifinal win over Bethel, before placing in tandem 28 assists and four blocks in TU’s sweep of Marian in the championship.

On the receiving end of many of Bragg’s assists, meanwhile, was Frey, who led the Trojans with a mark of 4.00 kills-per-set this past week. In each of Taylor’s two wins, Frey posted match-high kills, striking 16 in four sets against Bethel and 12 in three sets against Marian. TU’s graduate-transfer from Grace was also active on defense, recording 12 digs in the semifinals before scoring three blocks in the championship match.

Speaking of blocks, Ieremia put on a clinic throughout Taylor’s jaunt to the championship, averaging 1.71 blocks-per-set, which was capped with a nine-block performance against Marian this past Saturday night.

Ieremia now leads the entire NAIA with 157 total blocks on the season, while ranking fourth with a season-average of 1.33 blocks-per-set. TU’s sophomore mid-hitter also currently boasts the fifth-most block assists for a single season in program history with 132, which is just 14 away from the most all-time.

Taylor volleyball now boasts 18 of TU Athletics’ total 28 player-of-the-week awards in 2022-2023.

No. 11 Taylor (30-5) is now set to host an NAIA National Championship Opening Round match against RV Campbellsville (21-6) this…