Volleyball | 11/18/2019 1:45:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – For the third consecutive week and seventh time this season, Robert Morris University volleyball junior middle blocker Emma Granger was recognized as the Molten/Northeast Conference (NEC) Player of the Week, as announced by the league this afternoon on its social media platforms.
Granger's seventh Molten/NEC Player of the Week plaudit is a new league record, surpassing the previous mark of six won by Long Island's Annika Foit in 2012 and Cristina Pintilie in 2002. The junior has captured all seven honors in consecutive weeks, winning Sept. 9, Sept. 16, Oct. 14, Oct. 21, Nov. 4, Nov. 11, and now this week. She also has three Molten/NEC Defensive Player of the Week accolades to her name this season (Sept. 16, Oct. 7, Nov. 4) and has a total of 16 weekly league awards in her career, seven more than anyone else ever at Robert Morris.
In the final weekend of the regular season, Granger added the finishing touches to an impressive Player of the Year resume. She averaged 5.86 kills, 1.29 blocks, 0.57 service aces, and 7.07 points per set in matches at Fairleigh Dickinson and Long Island, while hitting .529 over 70 swings. The junior tallied 16 kills on a .483 hitting percentage with four block assists against the Knights, then rattled off 25 kills at a .561 clip with five assisted rejections and three aces. Granger's 30.5-point performance at LIU is the second highest total in single-match history, missing the record she set on Nov. 8 against Central Connecticut by 2.5 points.
Granger's junior season is one of the best the program has ever seen. She ranks seventh nationally in blocks (1.49), ninth in service aces (0.56), 24th in points (4.98), and 28th in hitting percentage (.392), and slots third in the NEC in kills (3.59). The junior is five aces away from breaking her own single-season record of 61 (2017), needs six total blocks and 10 block assists to share the top spot in those respective categories, and can reach the 1,000 career kill milestone with 15 more.
Robert Morris will host the NEC Tournament this weekend for a chance to earn its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2015. The top-seeded Colonials will host No. 4 seed Central Connecticut on Friday at 3:30 p.m., with the other semifinal being between No. 2 seed Sacred Heart and No. 3 seed Long Island at 6:00 p.m. The semifinal winners will then play in the championship game at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
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