Oct. 31, 2011

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Xavier’s Sarah Brown and Carly Marcum of Saint Louis were selected as the Atlantic 10 Conference Volleyball Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, the league office announced on Monday. The Musketeers’ Aubree Smith was also honored as the Conference’s Rookie of the Week.

Brown helped Xavier to a 2-0 weekend, as the Musketeers swept George Washington and Rhode Island at Cintas Center in Cincinnati. The Mineral City, Ohio native paced the Muskies in both matches and was one dig shy of her third double-double of the season against George Washington. She led Xavier with 5.17 digs per set during the two matches. Brown currently leads the team in kills with 3.33 kill per set, while ranking second in digs (2.60/set) and fourth on the squad in hitting percentage at .288 (233-81-528).

Marcum, a junior middle blocker, paced Saint Louis with 18 blocks on the weekend, including a match-high 11 against Fordham. The Belleville, Ill., native also had seven blocks and one dig in the Billikens’ sweep at Temple. Smith, who picks up her fifth Rookie of the Week citation of the season, led Xavier in assists in its two matches against George Washington and Rhode Island last weekend. The St. Louis, Mo., native, opened the two-match home swing hitting .833, along with 33 assists, three digs and one block, before posting her second career double-double versus the Rams with 35 assists and 10 digs. Smith currently leads the XU roster assists with 909 on the season, for a 10.10 assists per set average. Smith is just 37 assists shy of entering the program’s top 10 all-time assist leaders.

About the A-10
The Atlantic 10 Conference was formed in 1976, is currently comprised of 14 member institutions and sponsors 21 championship sports. The mission and goal of the Atlantic 10 is to preserve, protect, and enhance the academic and athletic pursuits of the membership. The conference is committed to integrity, educational excellence and providing quality equitable championship experiences for more than 6,000 student-athletes, coaches, and support staff. The member institutions of the Atlantic 10 are the University of Dayton, Duquesne University, Fordham University, The George Washington University, La Salle University, University of Massachusetts, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, University of Rhode Island, University of Richmond, St. Bonaventure University, Saint Joseph's University, Saint Louis University, Temple University, and Xavier University.

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