Niciu, Monroe Receive OCCAC Volleyball Player of the Week Recognition

By Kyle Kuhlman/OCCAC Sports Information

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC) Players of the Week for women’s volleyball (Oct. 16-22) are Iesha Niciu (D-II) of Lakeland Community College and Columbus State Community College’s Alaina Monroe (D-III).

IESHA NICIU
Lakeland Community College
Freshman middle blocker

Niciu attacked .479 with 4.78 kills per set offensively while putting up a whopping 3.50 blocks/set on the defensive side. She helped push the Lakers to three victorious sweeps last week over conference foes. The Ashtabula native opened with 15 kills at a .483 hitting clip and 13 blocks versus Lorain County midweek. Following a solid performance against Clark State Friday night (Oct. 20), Niciu exploded for another double-double (20 kills, 17 blocks) in a triumph over Edison on Saturday (Oct. 21). She terminated 20 of 24 attempts with four errors vs. the Chargers, good for a .667 attacking efficiency.

NOTE: This marks Niciu’s second OCCAC Player of the Week honor of 2017, also earning the distinction on Oct. 8.


ALAINA MONROE
Columbus State Community College
Sophomore outside hitter

Monroe racked up 23 kills, hitting .489 for the week. She averaged 4.60 points per set while adding in eight digs and four blocks as the Cougars won two of three contests. The Groveport product began with back-to-back 9-kill efforts accompanied by .500-or-better hitting percentages. She then concluded by putting away five of 12 errorless attempts in a sweep of Lorain County Community College.

NOTES: Columbus State has garnered eight of nine OCCAC D-III Player of the Week awards thus far in 2017. Four different Cougars have been awarded the weekly laurel. This marks the first of Monroe’s career.