Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado Mesa’s Holly Schmidt and Sabrina VanDeList join Metropolitan State University of Denver’s Ember Canty as the final Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Volleyball Players of the Week for the 2021 season, the league announced Monday.
 
Schmidt earns Offensive Player of the Week honors after pushing the Mavericks to a pair of wins over Westminster and No. 23-ranked Regis in the final week of regular-season play. The junior registered a .450 hitting percentage and a season-high 18 kills to lead Colorado Mesa to a thrilling five-set victory over the Griffins on Tuesday. She followed up with 13 more kills against the nationally-ranked Rangers on Friday, bringing her to 31 kills on the week. The award marks the first of the season for Schmidt.
 
Canty claims Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in the 2021 campaign after bolstering the Roadrunners’ defense in their final week of regular-season play. The sophomore accounted for 11 blocks in the final week of conference action for the Roadrunners, who closed out the season with a perfect 18-0 RMAC record.  
 
VanDeList nabs her third Setter of the Week award this season after pacing the Mavs’ offense to a pair of wins with 120 assists and two double-doubles in CMU’s final two matches of regular-season play. In Tuesday’s match against the Griffins, the freshman dished out 63 assists, 14 digs and a trio of kills. Against the Rangers, VanDeList stamped 57 assists and 21 digs to claim her ninth double-double of the season.
 
Offensive Player of the Week: Holly Schmidt, Colorado Mesa – Jr. – OH – Castle Rock, Colo.
Schmidt recorded a season-high 18 kills and a .450 attack percentage in Tuesday’s win over Westminster. She then added 13 more kills in Friday’s four-set victory over No. 23 Regis, helping the Mavericks clinch the third seed in the upcoming 2021 RMAC Volleyball Tournament. During the 2-0 week, Schmidt averaged 3.44 kills-per-set and hit for a .316 average. She also accounted for 11 digs, three aces and a block to average 3.89 points per set on the week.
 
Defensive Player of the Week: Ember Canty, MSU Denver – So. – MB – Sanford, Colo.
No. 1-ranked MSU Denver completed its 18-0 run through RMAC play last week as Canty continued her defensive onslaught at the net for the Roadrunners. The sophomore tabbed 11 blocks in just seven sets while hitting for a scalding .360 average with 11 kills on 25 attacks last week. She had five kills and three blocks in a four-set win over CSU Pueblo Thursday before denying UCCS with eight blocks in three sets on Friday. She also hit .545 with six kills and zero errors against the Mountain Lions, marking the ninth time this season that she has recorded at least four kills with no errors. Canty led the RMAC in league play with 1.13 blocks per set, tied for second in blocks (70) and tied for fourth in hitting percentage (.365) during the 2021 campaign.
 
Setter of the Week: Sabrina VanDeList, Colorado Mesa – Fr. – S – Severance, Colo.
VanDeList tallied 120 assists, 35 digs and four service aces to push the Mavericks to an unbeaten 2-0 week to close out the RMAC regular-season schedule. She nabbed double-doubles in each match, averaging 13.33 assists and 3.89 digs per set in wins over Westminster and Regis. VanDeList recorded a career-high 63 assists and four aces to go along with 14 digs over Westminster on Tuesday. Against the Rangers, she paced the CMU offense with 57 assists and a career-high 21 digs in an upset of a nationally-ranked Regis program. Her 63 assists against the Griffins are the most by a Colorado Mesa play over the past five seasons.