Eschenberg repeats as WCC Defensive Player of the Week

SAN MATEO, Calif. – Senior middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg collected West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row, the league announced on Monday.

Eschenberg led a dominant defensive effort in No. 15 BYU’s back-to-back sweeps of Saint Mary’s. The WCC’s leader in blocks per set averaged an exceptional 2.67 blocks across six sets, 1.41 more than her season average that topped the league entering the week. Her blocking helped the Cougars outblock the Gaels 21-8 and hold them to a combined .110 hitting percentage. Recording 16 blocks in six sets, Eschenberg also impressed on the attack, totaling 21 kills (3.50 per set) on a blistering .588 clip while only tallying one error in 34 attempts.

Eschenberg had eight blocks, along with 11 kills on an errorless .611 clip, to help BYU hold Saint Mary’s to a season-low .057 hitting percentage in the first sweep of the series. Eschenberg added another eight-block performance the following match, along with 10 kills (.562 clip), to help BYU claim the top spot in the WCC standings with a 13-1 conference record (.929 win pct.).

This award marks the fifth WCC weekly honor collected by a BYU player this season. Freshman libero Madi Allen received WCC Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 1 and Feb. 15 while sophomore setter Whitney Bower claimed WCC Offensive Player of the Week as she and Eschenberg swept conference honors last week.