Bower, Eschenberg sweep WCC weekly honors

SAN MATEO, Calif. – Sophomore setter Whitney Bower collected West Coast Conference Offensive Player of the Week and senior middle blocker Kennedy Eschenberg claimed WCC Defensive Player of the Week, the league announced on Monday.

Bower guided No. 16 BYU to a combined .315 hitting percentage in its season sweep of No. 21 San Diego, which entered the week leading the league in both opponent hitting percentage (.157) and blocks per set (2.39). Bower led the Cougars to a four-set win over the Toreros in San Diego on Wednesday with 41 assists and 14 digs, marking her fourth consecutive double-double. She followed that performance up with 36 assists, six digs, three kills, three blocks and a pair of aces to help BYU sweep San Diego in the second match of the series.

Eschenberg helped the Cougars hold the Toreros to its two lowest hitting percentages of the season. She averaged 1.57 blocks per set to help hold San Diego to a combined .143 hitting percentage across the two matches, .130 lower than its season average entering the week. The senior opened the series with 11 kills (.450 pct) and three blocks in BYU’s four-set win before totaling season highs of 12 kills (.632 pct) and eight blocks, including two solo blocks, in the Cougars’ sweep of the Toreros on Saturday. Eschenberg led BYU to outblock San Diego 19-11 in the series.

These awards mark the third and fourth WCC weekly honors collected by BYU players this season. Freshman libero Madi Allen received WCC Defensive Player of the Week on Feb. 1 and Feb. 15.