Bradley Colditz and Waldemar Rivera-Berrios
GANSEVOORT, N.Y. - A pair of Penn State Altoona men's volleyball players swept the North Eastern Athletic Conference's weekly awards in the sport, as the league announced its Players of the Week on Tuesday afternoon.
Named the NEAC Player of the Week was sophomore outside hitter Bradley Colditz (Upper St. Clair, PA/Upper St. Clair), and selected as the NEAC Defensive Player of the Week was sophomore libero Waldemar Rivera-Berrios (Toa Alta, Puerto Rico/Samuel Clemens).
Colditz and Rivera-Berrios both had big weeks for the Lions, helping their team go 3-0 in last weekend's NEAC Crossover Weekend at Mount Aloysius College. The wins improved Penn State Altoona's NEAC record to 10-1, keeping the squad in sole possession of first place in the conference standings.
Colditz tied his season-high in kills with 21 in the Lions' 3-2 victory over Wells College on Saturday afternoon, and he added nine digs and one block assist. In Sunday's 3-0 win over SUNY Polytechnic Institute, the sophomore recorded 17 kills, four digs, and one solo block. Later that day, in a 3-0 victory over Keuka College, he had 12 kills, eight digs, and one solo block. Colditz finished the week with 50 kills (4.55 kills per set), 21 digs (1.91 digs per set), and 52.5 points (4.77 points per set).
Rivera-Berrios posted 23 digs in Penn State Altoona's win over Wells on Saturday. He followed that up by tallying 21 digs versus SUNY Polytechnic and 19 digs against Keuka during Sunday's action. Rivera-Berrios totaled 63 digs (5.72 digs per set) and also chipped in 12 set assists on the week.
This marks the first NEAC Player of the Week honor this season for Colditz, while it is the fifth time this year that Rivera-Berrios has been recognized as the conference's Defensive Player of the Week.
Lions volleyball returns for more NEAC action this Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25 at Hilbert College. The squad faces Hilbert on Friday at 4:00 p.m., then on Saturday, they play Medaille College at 11:00 a.m. and D'Youville College at 5:00 p.m.
