Jenna Holmes Earns AVCA Division III National Player of the Week Honor

CLAREMONT, Calif. - After leading the top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team to three wins over nationally ranked opponents at the East-West Battle in Atlanta, junior outside hitter Jenna Holmes was named the Division III National Player of the Week by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, the organization announced today.

Holmes was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, after recording double-doubles in all three matches, which came against No. 7 Johns Hopkins, No. 2 Trinity and No. 14 Emory, the tournament host. She had 18 kills in 37 attempts against Johns Hopkins, hitting .405 and tallied 17 kills and 21 digs in a win over No. 2 Trinity. In that match, CMS was tied 1-1 in sets and down 24-23 in the third, when Holmes came through with the tying kill to fight off set point, and the winning kill to cap a 3-0 run to take a 2-1 lead. 

CMS also capped off the weekend with a 3-1 win over Emory, as Holmes came through in another big spot. The Athenas won the first two sets, but Emory took the third 25-23 and rallied for a 26-25 lead in the fourth looking to send it to a fifth and deciding set. Holmes erased that set point with a kill, though, and CMS took the next two points as well to finish off a 28-26 win and earn a sweep of the weekend. 

Holmes also began the season by earning the SCIAC Offensive Player of the Week honor after the Athenas went 4-0 at its host Pacific Coast Classic, including a win over No. 7 NYU. She is currently hitting .323 on the year, and averaging 4.43 kills per set against a schedule that has included five teams currently in the top 25 out of the seven the Athenas have faced. 

CMS will be back in action this weekend at the Cal Lu Fornia Invitational, facing UC Santa Cruz and Endicott on Friday, and No. 13 Colorado College on Sunday.