Cortland senior outside hitter Jennifer Koestner (Syosset) and senior defensive specialist/libero Mikenzie Martens (Carthage) have been chosen as the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Women’s Volleyball Offensive and Defensive Athletes of the Week, respectively, for the week ending Sept. 29.
Koestner finished with 42 kills (4.2 per set), a .333 attack percentage, eight aces, 10 digs and three blocks in a 2-1 week for the Red Dragons at the Johns Hopkins Invitational. She posted a career-high 18 kills in a four-set loss to nationally fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins, had 15 kills, a .500 attack percentage (two errors in 26 attempts) and three aces in a sweep over Eastern University (avenging losses to the Eagles each of the last two years), and had nine kills, four aces and seven digs in a sweep of Mary Washington. All three opponents were NCAA qualifiers last year, with Hopkins advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals, Mary Washington to the third round and Eastern to the second round.
Koestner currently ranks second in the SUNYAC with 3.6 kills per set and second with 0.7 aces per set (32 total. She ranks 35th nationally in Division III with 4.5 points per set. She has a .242 attack percentage and ranks second on the Red Dragon squad with 2.5 digs per set.
Martens, a repeat selection for the league’s defensive award, averaged 5.8 digs per set (58 in 10 sets) during a 2-1 weekend for the Red Dragons at the Johns Hopkins Invitational. She had 22 digs in a three-set sweep of Eastern University, had 21 digs in a four-set loss to nationally fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins and 15 digs and two aces in a sweep of Mary Washington.
Martens leads the SUNYAC with 5.1 digs per set (245 total) and has 21 aces and a .966 serve reception percentage this fall.
Cortland (11-4) will host William Smith in a non-league match Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and begins SUNYAC play with home matches Friday versus Oswego at 6 p.m. and Saturday against Canton at 1 p.m.
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