Hilltoppers rake in three C-USA weekly awards
For the third consecutive week, a member of the WKU Hilltoppers football team has been named a Conference USA football Player of the Week, and for the second straight week, at least one volleyball player has been named to the same distinction.
On the gridiron, quarterback Brandon Doughty won his second C-USA Offensive Player of the Week award after breaking his own records this past week in the triple-OT loss to the MTBRs. Doughty set not only a Hilltoppers record, but a Conference USA record for passing yards with 593, and finished Saturday completing 43 of his 66 attempted passes and added four touchdowns to the evening’s resume. He became just the third C-USA QB to go over 500 yards passing more than once in the same season – and we are only three games in. Doughty is also the eighth FBS quarterback since 2004 to go for 500 yards or more in multiple games. In total, the Tops ran 102 plays and broke another school record, which stood for just two weeks, by finishing with 718 total yards of offense. Finally, Doughty leads the nation in touchdown passes with 12. Also gaining Player of the Week honors are Old Dominion’s D.J. Simon (11 tackles in ODU’s win over Eastern Michigan) as the Defensive Player of the Week and MTBR kicker Cody Clark (career high three field goals and 14 points). Simon is the first Monarch to ever win a C-USA football POTW.
On the Diddle hardwood, two WKU volleyball players collected POTW honors after sweeping the competition this weekend at the Holiday Inn University Plaza Invitational, including a five set win over #8 Purdue. Snagging the Offensive Player of the Week honor was Preseason C-USA Player of the Year Noelle Langenkamp, who was also named MVP of this past weekend’s tournament. Langenkamp lead the team in hitting this past week with a .364 percentage and had 41 kills, averaging 2.73 per set. She had a season-high 15 kills in the win over Austin Peay and had 13 kills along with zero service errors in the win over Purdue. Successfully defending her C-USA Setter of the Week title is Jessica Lucas, who dished out 166 assists (11.07 per set) on the week, and finished with a double-double (44 assists, 10 kills) in the win over the Boilermakers. Earlier in the week, Lucas set a high in her young career with 46 assists in the Austin Peay win, and recorded three service aces in mid-week win over Lipscomb. Joining the pair of Lady Toppers was UNC-Charlotte’s Shelby Green, who was named Defensive Player of the Week after recording 97 digs in the 49ers’ 3-1 week.
How would you have voted for C-USA POTW? Did soccer get snubbed for not being named? Let us know below or on twitter @WaveTheRedTowel.