Volleyball

BU’s Stowers, TCU’s Parra and UT’s O’Neal Acquire Weekly Honors

TCU’s Melanie Parra (Offensive), Texas’ Asjia O’Neal (Defensive) and Baylor’s Kyndal Stowers (Rookie) collected weekly Big 12 volleyball awards for the final full week of non-conference play of the regular season (Sept. 11-17). Parra was also named the AVCA/GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week

Parra broke the school record for a four-set match and was one kill short of the four-set Big 12 record with 34 in TCU’s 3-1 win over Florida State. The junior is just the second player in school history to have 34+ kills in a match. She led the league in both points per set (7.77) and kills per set (6.91) during the week while ranking fifth in service aces per set (0.55). The outside hitter averaged a .394 hitting percentage and helped the Horned Frogs go 3-0 while being named the Fight in the Fort All-Tournament MVP. Parra added double-digit digs against the Seminoles and Western Carolina while earning her first Big 12 weekly award. The native of Sinaloa, Mexico leads the Big 12 this season in points per set (5.51) and kills per set (4.63).

O’Neal had the most blocks by a Longhorn in a single match since 1998 with 13 total against then-No. 11 Washington State. The senior had 23 total blocks and led the league with 2.09 blocks per set for the week. O’Neal finished with seven kills and six blocks in a 3-1 UT victory against then-No. 19 Ohio State and added four blocks in a sweep of Rice. This is O’Neal’s second league defensive weekly accolade this season and her fifth overall weekly league honor. The three-time First Team All-Big 12 member’s four Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week awards are tied for the seventh-most all-time.

Stowers had her seventh and eighth match of double-digit kills this year with 20 against then-No. 11 Washington State and 16 against then-No. 19 Ohio State to earn her second consecutive weekly award. The preseason Co-Big 12 Freshman of the Year added 11 digs against the Cougars and had nine digs with three blocks to help the Bears take down the Buckeyes in five sets.

A full list of this season’s weekly award winners can be found here.

Offensive Player of the Week
Melanie Parra, TCU, OH, Jr. 

Defensive Player of the Week
Asjia O’Neal, Texas, MB, R-Sr.

Rookie of the Week
Kyndal Stowers, Baylor, OH, Fr.