SEATTLE – Sarah Risser, who set a career high with 22 kills last Thursday in Seattle Pacific's victory at Central Washington, then tied it just two nights later in a win against Northwest Nazarene, has been named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball Player of the Week.

Risser (Santa Barbara, Calif.), a junior outside hitter for the GNAC-leading Falcons (6-1, 12-7 overall), bettered her previous career high of 21, which she set in August 2008 against Cal State Stanislaus. Her 22 kills on Thursday at Central is the second-highest total in the GNAC this fall for a four-game match.  She also had 14 digs on Thursday and hit .333 against the Wildcats.

In Saturday's five-gamer against Northwest Nazarene, Risser came up with 27 digs to go along with her 22 kills, and hit .214.

“She's very deserving. It's not often you get your career high in kills two matches in a row,” Falcons coach Chris Johnson said.

Risser easily leads the Falcons in kills this season with 243, despite missing the first two conference matches of the season with appendicitis.

That fact was not lost on Johnson.

“She has played well and had a surgery to boot,” he said. “She is doing a better job of playing to her potential. She has really improved her passing, and that has been a big help to the team.”

Risser ranks fifth in the GNAC in kills (3.123 per game), fourth in points (4.20 per game) and 11th in digs (3.13 per game). Last week's two double-doubles give her 10 for the year and 13 for her career. She is enjoying her best hitting season by far, currently at .213, which is 83 points better than the .130 she hit last year as a sophomore.

“She has always had the ability for kills, but she' s making a lot less errors this year. That shows in her percentage,” Johnson said.

Seattle Pacific takes on second-place Alaska Anchorage on Thursday night at 7 in Brougham Pavilion, and closes out a homestand against Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Falcons then play their next three matches and five of their final seven on the road.


RISSER BY THE NUMBERS
Last week
Kills: 44 (4.89 per game).
Digs: 41.
Hitting percentage: .264

Season
Kills: 243 (3.86 per game)
Digs: 197.
Hitting percentage: .213