11/3/2009

UWF's Gandolfo had a monster week for West Florida. (UWF Sports Information)

West Florida middle blocker Patricia Gandolfo (Sr., 6-3, Porto Alegre, Brazil) is first athlete in 2009 to win both the Gulf South Conference East Division Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards. On the offensive side of the ledger, the senior was dominant, posting 21 kills in a pivotal 3-2 win over West Alabama. That win put the Argonauts in tie for first place in the East Division. She hit an outstanding .425 during the match, and the 21 was a season high for Gandolfo.
   
If that performance wasn’t enough, she completely dominated the net for UWF defensively as well. She had 13 total blocks, just one off the school record. That performance was also a career-high for the senior, who currently leads the team with 95 blocks on the season. She also added two service aces and two digs as well.

Harding outside hitter Manuela Nesheva (Sr., 5-7, Lukovit, Bulgaria) is the Gulf South Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. Nesheva continues to come up big in the most critical matches, with 36 kills during Harding’s 2-0 run. In a huge 3-1 win over Arkansas-Monticello, Nesheva had 25 kills, and hit .429 for the Lady Bisons. She is the reigning West Division Player of the Year.
   
Henderson State libero Bethany Wright (Sr., 5-7, Georgetown, Texas) is the GSC West Division Defensive Player of the Week. Wright continues to rewrite the GSC defensive record books, compiling digs like no other libero before her. This week, she had 54 digs, averaging an incredible 7.71 per set. Wright had 36 digs in a 3-1 win over SAU, her second 30 plus dig effort this season.