COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Maryland volleyball middle blocker Rainelle Jones was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week by the conference on Monday afternoon.
Jones tallied 22 blocks and 21 kills this past weekend as the Terps went 3-0 at the Virginia Tournament in Charlottesville, VA. She had nine blocks against Mercer in the morning before going on to have nine kills on a.533 hitting percentage in the afternoon against East Carolina.
Jones’ third block of the weekend, which came against Mercer, vaulted her to second all-time in program history with 603 blocks. She now has 621 in her career, 29 away from the top spot in Maryland history. The prior weekend, she became the 17th Big Ten student-athlete ever to pass 600 career blocks.
Jones once again leads the NCAA in blocks per set with a 1.83 average after taking home the crown last season. Her 77 total blocks are also an NCAA-best. Within the Big Ten she has 18 more blocks than second place (Anastasia Russ) and 26 more than the closest non-Terp (Taylor Trammell).
This marks the fourth time Jones has won a Big Ten weekly honor in her career, with all four being Defensive Player of the Week. She earned the honor earlier this season on August 29. She is the only Terp to win a B1G weekly honor this season.
Last season, she was also named First Team All-Big Ten. Before the start of this season she was named Preseason All-Big Ten.
The Terrapins are set to hit the road this weekend for Champaign, IL, where they will begin the Big Ten season against Illinois. The Terps then return home for a Sunday matinee against Indiana.
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