COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M setter Stephanie Aiple has been named the SEC Freshman Player of the Week for volleyball, the Southeastern Conference announced today.
Aiple was named to the all-tournament team at Ohio University's Baymont Inn & Suites Invitational last weekend after leading Texas A&M to three consecutive victories and the Aggies' second consecutive tournament championship.
The Round Rock (Texas) High School product drew the first start of her collegiate career in A&M's tournament opener against host Ohio and had 39 assists and seven digs in the sweep against the Bobcats. Aiple followed that performance with her first double-double, tallying 28 assists and a team-high 11 digs in the Aggies' 3-0 victory against Virginia Tech. In A&M's third and final match of the tournament, Aiple had a career-high and team season-high 52 assists along with two kills, seven digs, two blocks and an ace as the Aggies came back to defeat VCU, 3-2, to finish the tournament undefeated.
Overall, Aiple started every match and was on the court for every play throughout the 11 sets A&M played during the tournament. She averaged 10.82 assists per set and was third on the team with 2.27 digs per set.
Aiple and the Aggies return to action Thursday and Friday as they compete in the USC Classic at Galen Center in Los Angeles. A&M takes on the sixth-ranked Women of Troy, Thursday at 8 p.m. (PDT) in a match that will be televised by the Pac 12 Network. A&M then meets No. 13 San Diego at 4:30 p.m. (PDT) on Friday, the second of four consecutive ranked opponents the Aggies will face.
A&M returns home to Reed Arena for a two-match series against No. 7 Florida State on Sept. 19-20. A&M swept the then-16th-ranked Seminoles last year in College Station en route to winning the Texas A&M Invitational.
Visit 12thMan.com for more information on Texas A&M volleyball. Aggie fans also can keep up to date with the A&M volleyball team on Facebook and on Twitter by following @AggieVolleyball.