Photo Courtesy of Mark Campbell

RICHMOND, Va. – University of Delaware volleyball players Alissa Alker and Steph Barry have earned weekly honors from the Colonial Athletic Association after leading the Blue Hens to a 3-0 record during the squad’s action last week.

Alker (above right), a freshman outside hitter, was named the CAA Rookie of the Week, while senior libero Steph Barry (below right) shared the conference’s defensive honors for the second straight week. Highlighted by their performances, Delaware posted a 3-2 victory over Seton Hall before reeling off 3-0 victories over George Mason and James Madison.

Barry was honored for her performance during the week after leading Delaware’s defensive efforts. During the squad’s three matches, she posted a team-high 46 digs and ranked second with five aces and third with a .917 reception percentage.

Against Seton Hall, she posted 22 digs and fired an ace to lead the Hens to a five-set victory over their Big East foe. On Friday, she ripped three aces and collected 18 digs against George Mason, marking the most by a Blue Hen in a three-set match this season.

The following day, she rounded out her week with six digs and an ace against James Madison. With her performance during the three matches, she became the first player in Delaware history to top the 2,000-dig plateau. Her career total stands at 2,037.

Overall, Barry leads the Blue Hens with 216 digs and ranks second with 14 aces. She is also tied for second in the CAA with a 4.41 digs-per-set average.

Alker was also honored for her performance after posting 25 kills during the team's three matches. She started the week with an incredible performance against Seton Hall when she set a new career-high with 14 kills while posting a .226 hitting percentage.

Guided in large part by her efforts against the Pirates, the Blue Hens posted 72 kills as a team, marking their highest single-match total since the squad blasted 73 against Northeastern during the 2008 CAA Championship bout.

Alker continued her strong week during the team’s first conference action of the season. Over the weekend, the San Diego, Calif. native fired 11 total kills against George Mason and James Madison. In the victory over the Patriots, she notched five kills. The next day, she followed up that performance with six kills and three blocks against the Dukes.

On the season, Alker has started all 13 matches and ranks third on the team with 105 kills. Her 23 blocks are third on the team as well, while her .179 hitting percentage stands fourth.

Along with the two Blue Hens, the CAA honored Georgia State’s Vineece Verdun as the Offensive Player of the Week, while Hofstra’s Kaylee Maneja was named the Co-Defensive Player of the Week.