Long Beach State University Athletics
Barber, Xue Pull In Big West Weekly Honors Again
10/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Long Beach, Calif. - The Big West Conference announced the weekly women's volleyball award winners on Monday, and once again Nele Barber and YiZhi Xue were recognized for their outstanding play. Barber was named Big West Player of the Week for the second time this season while Xue picked up Big West Freshman of the Week recognition for the first time in her career. The duo both earned weekly awards on Sept. 12 when Barber was Player of the Week and Xue the Defensive Player of the Week.
Barber has now won six Big West Player of the Week awards in her time at Long Beach State, becoming just the 12th player in conference history to reach that mark. The outside hitter from Berlin has led the Beach in kills in every match this season, and has a team-best 12 double-doubles. This week, Barber recorded 15 kills (all in the first two sets) and nine digs in a sweep of Cal Poly, but her .344 hitting percentage was her most impressive statistic. She followed that up with 12 kills and a match-high 19 digs in a sweep of UCSB the next night. During Big West play, Barber is second in the conference in both kills/set (4.29) and digs/set (4.79).
Xue was the best freshman in the conference last week, led by her performance in Saturday's win over UCSB. The middle from Nanjing, China, recorded 12 kills on just 18 swings for a .556 hitting percentage. The 12 kills represent a new career high, and she tied with Barber for the team lead. Against Cal Poly, Xue recorded a pair of solo roofs on her way to five blocks against the Mustangs. Xue now leads the Big West in hitting percentage during conference play, hitting at a .429 clip.
The Beach returns to action on Wednesday at UC Riverside before hosting No. 12 Hawai'i on Saturday night at Walter Pyramid. The match starts at 8 p.m. and will be televised on Fox Sports Prime Ticket.
