Lakeland University claimed both of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference's weekly women's volleyball awards as
Maleigha Kovalaske (Jr.-Ripon, Wis.) and
Ryan Figi (Sr.-Hartland, Wis.) both were honored when the conference released its weekly honors Tuesday.
Kovalaske was named the NACC Offensive Player of the Week while Figi received the conference's Defensive Player of the Week award. Both received the awards for the first time in their careers, and the two give the Muskies a sweep of both conference awards for the first time since the NACC went to separate offensive and defensive awards in 2021.
Kovalaske and Figi both were instrumental in Lakeland posting a 2-0 record last week that included a pair of five-set victories in conference play. The Muskies rallied for a 3-2 win at Illinois Tech on Thursday, and then outlasted Concordia University Wisconsin again in five sets on Saturday.
Kovalaske set a career high with 22 kills in the win at Illinois Tech on Oct. 22, including four kills at the end of the third set as the Muskies came back from down 22-18 to score the final seven points of the set to extend the match. She then added 20 kills in another five-set win Oct. 24 against Concordia Wisconsin.
Kovalaske averaged 4.2 kills per set over the two matches while posting a .192 hitting percentage. An outside hitter, she leads the NACC in total kills (307) and ranks second in the conference averaging 3.61 kills per set. One of the most effective all-around players in the conference, she also is 13th in the NACC in digs per set (2.88).
Figi averaged 5.6 digs per set last week over the two matches, including posting a career-high 34 digs in the win over Illinois Tech. The Muskies libero then added 22 digs in the win over Concordia Wisconsin two days later.
Figi ranks second in the NACC in total digs with 380 and is third in the conference in digs/set (4.47). She surpassed the 1,000-digs mark for her career earlier in the season and continues moving up the program's all-time list for digs, now sitting 14th all-time with 1,104 career digs, just three digs from tying Ashley Domask (1,107 digs from 2004-07) for 13th.
Kovalaske and Figi are the second and third Muskies to receive NACC weekly honors this year. Teammate
Laura Pearson (Jr.-San Diego, Calif.) was previously a two-time winner of the NACC's weekly defensive award this season.
Lakeland is 16-7 overall on the season and 7-2 in the NACC, sitting in third place in the conference. The Muskies are home again Thursday night to take on Wisconsin Lutheran College at 6 p.m. at the Moose & Dona Woltzen Gymnasium.
