Bittinger Recognized as MAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week
10/26/2016 5:07:00โฏPM | Women's Volleyball
CLEVELAND, Ohio โ Kent State junior outside hitter Kelsey Bittinger has been named Mid-American Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Week, the conference office announced Wednesday afternoon. The announcement comes two days after Bittinger received MAC East Division Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors.
The MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week honor is presented weekly to a MAC male and female student-athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during the week's competition. The winners are selected by a group of the conference's faculty athletic representatives. Bittinger received the award twice a year ago, which is the maximum number of times a student-athlete is permitted in one season.
An applied physics major with a 3.976 cumulative GPA, Bittinger averaged a team-high 4.20 kills per set in addition to a .311 hitting percentage and 4.10 digs per set to lead the Golden Flashes to a split of two five-setters over the weekend. She tallied a career-high 30 digs and led the offense with 18 kills in Friday's 3-2 win over Western Michigan and then posted a season-high 24 kills to go with 11 digs as Kent State pushed first-place Northern Illinois to five sets on Saturday.
The Strongsville, Ohio native continues to be one of the top six-rotation players in the conference this season, ranking third in in both points per set (3.91) and kills per set (3.46). Bittinger is second on the team with a career-best 2.98 digs per set.
Kent State (12-11, 5-5 MAC) returns to action this weekend with road matches against rival Akron and Buffalo.ย
