Morgan Williams Named A-10 Defensive Player of the Week

League Release

Newport News, Va. – Junior libero Morgan Williams has been named this week's Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week, it was announced on Monday afternoon by the league office. This is the first career weekly accolade earned by Williams and the first for the team this season.
 
"This is a great achievement for Morgan. She has been an anchor of selfless positivity for us," Head coach Ian Choi said, "Her work ethic, coachability, and team-first attitude have been nothing short of outstanding and I know that our team will be thrilled that she's received this award for the first time in her collegiate career."
 
Williams earned the award after enjoying another stellar week at the heart of defense for the Rams, helping the team to a 3-1 record, and even matched the program's three-set record for digs for a second consecutive year, against Columbia. 
 
In an easy sweep of Manhattan in midweek, Williams notched 11 digs to go with five assists and matched her career-high with one kill. At Columbia on Friday, the Rams struggled on offense but Williams kept them in the match with a record-tying 22 digs, a feat she had previous reached last September 1^st at home in a win over Cleveland State. The following day, in a pair of four-set victories, Williams totaled 34 digs and six assists split between the two. Against St. Francis Brooklyn, Williams had 14 and two and later in the day had a match-high 20 and four against Dartmouth. 
 
The junior from Los Angeles averaged 4.79 digs per set during the week and is averaging 4.26 for the season, which would be the new school benchmark if the season ended today. A year ago, Williams finished her sophomore campaign with 4.06 digs per set, just .04 behind Jenn Shea's single-season record, set in 1994. Williams recently entered the all-time top-10 for career digs and is up to seventh already, with 989, and is poised to become just the fifth Ram to reach the 1,000 dig plateau.
 
Williams' current career rate of 3.82 digs per set ranks, by a wide margin, first all-time in Fordham history, a feat made more impressive by the fact the junior libero has missed just one set in her entire career on Rose Hill. Entering this season, Williams had appeared in all 56 matches and 209 sets over her first two years. She missed one set in the season-opening loss against Eastern Michigan but hasn't missed a game since.
 
Williams ranks third in the conference with her 213 digs and fourth with 4.26 per set. The former number ranks 60^th nationally.