Jackie Jones Earns SCIAC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week Honor for Second Time

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior outside hitter Jackie Jones earned the SCIAC Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season, the league office announced today.

Jones earned the final award of the 2021 season after helping CMS finish undefeated in the SCIAC (16-0) for the first time in program history. It wasn't easy, though, as the Athenas trailed Chapman 2-1 on Tuesday before coming back to win in five sets, with Jones recording a career-high 22 kills in the win. 

In fact, Jones stepped up big late, with three kills and two blocks in the decisive fifth set, with her 22nd kill setting up match point. She followed up that performance with nine kills in 16 attempts and no errors in a quick 25-15, 25-17, 25-15 win over second-place Pomona-Pitzer on Friday night. 

The 22 kills against Chapman surpassed her previous career high of 20, set earlier this season in a 3-1 win over No. 2 Emory, the second half of day in which CMS beat the No. 1 (Trinity) and No. 2 (Emory) ranked teams in the nation on the same afternoon. She earned the Offensive Player of the Week for the first time after that performance, and has now matched Melanie Williams with two awards this season, while Kelsey Polhemus has won the Offensive Player of the Week once (last week) and Georgia McGovern and Dede Carranza have earned the Specialist of the Week honor, giving CMS seven weekly awards this season. 

The Athenas will be back in action for the SCIAC Tournament this week, beginning play on Thursday night at Roberts Pavilion in a semifinal which will begin at 7 p.m. If CMS wins, it would also host the championship match on Saturday against the winner of the other semifinal between Pomona-Pitzer and Chapman.