For the 11th time in her four-year Utah volleyball career, U middle blocker Kim Turner was named the MWC’s Player of the Week after leading her team to a pair of rather simple victories at home this week.
In three-game sweeps over Air Force and New Mexico, Turner averaged 4.17 kills per game to go along with 2.17 digs and 1.83 blocks per game.
She hit for .647 against the Falcons Friday night, committing just one error in the process, while finishing with 12 kills. A night later against the Lobos, she one upped her own performance with 13 kills and a .435 hitting percentage while adding eight digs and six blocks.
The weekly honor is the third of the season for Turner, who won Player of the Year honors in her junior season and is expected by many to earn the award for the second-straight time this season.
She was previously named Player of the Week on Sept. 8 and Oct. 20.
On the season, the Chandler, Ariz., native is among the league leaders in several categories. She is second in the MWC in blocks per game at 1.53, just slightly behind San Diego State’s Megan Schauermann.
Turner has raised her hitting percentage to .325 on the season, thanks to her torrid conference play. She leads the team in the category and is sixth in the Mountain West.
She is also averaging 3.95 kills per game, which is good for fifth-best in the conference, just 0.08 kills behind second-place Michele Rauter of Wyoming.
Turner was voted the Preseason Player of the Year prior to the season and it would come as no surprise if she did net her second trophy. She is also currently chasing the U’s all-time kills record. Already the school’s all-time leader in blocks, block assists and hitting percentage, Turner is 116 kills away from setting the all-mark, firmly cementing her place as probably the best player in Utah volleyball history.