Wingate’s McGowan, Tusculum’s Sarmiento Named Volleyball Players Of The Week

ROCK HILL, S.C. ­- Wingate University outside hitter Cory McGowan has been named the Volleyball Player of the Week, while and Tusculum College setter Ashley Sarmiento has been named Volleyball Specialist of the Week, the league announced Monday.

McGowan, a freshman from Pittsburgh, Pa. (Penn Hills HS), averaged 3.17 kills and 3.58 digs per set, while hitting .315 for the week in leading Wingate to four sweeps. The Bulldogs swept a pair of conference matches, while also sweeping Montevallo to hand the Falcons their first region loss of the year. McGowan had double-digit digs in three of the four contests. She had 13 kills and a .417 hitting percentage in the win over WSSU. She had 10 kills and 12 digs in the Newberry victory. McGowan had eight kills, 12 digs, two blocks and a .350 hitting percentage in the Anderson sweep, while contributing seven kills and 14 digs in the Montevallo win.

Sarmiento, a freshman from Dayton, Ohio (Centerville HS) averaged 9.9 assists per set in leading Tusculum to a 3-0 record last week. She wins the award for the second time this season. She also posted 3.70 digs, 0.50 service aces and 0.20 blocks per set. Tusculum improved to 14-3 on the season and 10-1 in the South Atlantic Conference.

Cory McGowan	Ashley Sarmiento

TC, who is riding a seven-match winning streak, recorded victories over Limestone (3-0), Brevard (3-0) and Lenoir-Rhyne. In Tusculum's 3-0 wins over Limestone and Brevard, Sarmiento posted 25 and 27 assists, respectively. She followed those performances with a 47-assist effort against Lenoir-Rhyne to wrap up the perfect week. On the week, Sarmiento hit a solid .320, including .667 against Brevard (4-0-6) and .333 (4-0-12) versus Lenoir-Rhyne.