COLUMBIA, Ky. (Volleyball) – For the second time in the 2015 season as well as in her career, Shawnee State's Madison Smith (SR/Orrville, Ohio) has been named as the recipient of the Mid-South Conference's Defender of the Week award, conference officials announced on Monday afternoon.
Smith received the award after using a 27-dig effort against Bluefield and a 20-dig performance against Cumberlands (Ky.) to become just the second player in school history to eclipse the 2,000 dig mark, achieving the feat in the third set of a Senior Day contest against the Patriots.
In addition to averaging 7.8 digs per set over the past week, the senior libero also added five assists and a service ace between the pair of matches.
On the season, Smith leads the Mid-South in digs per game (6.21) by more than two digs per contest over the next-closest backline player, Sydney Beck of Cumberlands. Smith also has a sizeable advantage in digs for the year, as the Business Administration major's total of 627 is 108 digs more than the second-place holder, Beck, who has 519. Smith also holds the individual conference high in digs this year, with 44 in a 3-2 match victory against Campbellsville on Oct. 8.
Smith's aforementioned totals rank fourth and 19th in the NAIA, respectively. Those totals are on par with her cumulative 2014 stats, where Smith obtained 5.9 digs per game (eighth in the association) and 716 digs (21st in the country).
The Business Administration major has had a standout career up to this point, as the two-time Academic All-MSC honoree entered the 2015 season ranked second in program history in digs per game (3.84), third in service reception percentage (.931), fourth in service receptions (1246), fifth in digs (1380), and seventh in serves (968).
With her second MSC Defender of the Week award, Smith joins Beck as the only players in the conference to have won the award at least two times during the 2015 campaign.
The senior libero and the Bears will be back in action at Frank & Janis Waller Gymnasium as Shawnee State will play its final home game of the 2015 season against Pikeville this evening at 7 p.m.
