NEW ORLEANS (JMU Athletics) – James Madison junior outside hitter Kennedy Louisell was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the league announced on Tuesday morning.
Louisell, a transfer from High Point, led JMU and the Sun Belt in kills (62), kills per set (5.62), points (68.5), and points per set (6.23) this past weekend for the Dukes in the LD&B Insurance Invitational. She finished with an attacking percentage of .359, recording just 15 errors in 131 attempts. The weekly honor is the first of Louisell’s career.
Through two weeks of the season, Louisell ranks second nationally in kills (122), kills per set (5.30), and total points (131.0). Her 122 total kills are 37 more than the next player in the Sun Belt (Cailin Demps, Louisiana, 87), and her attacking percentage of .347 ranks eighth.
Against Bellarmine on Friday, Sept. 5, Louisell finished with 17 kills at an efficient .516 clip, finishing with only one error in 31 swings (17-1-31). She followed that performance up with a 27-kill outing against Princeton, where she hit .469 (27-4-49) and picked up two aces and four digs. In the weekend finale versus Lehigh, she tallied 18 kills and 12 digs, picking up her third double-double of the season.
Louisell and the Dukes continue their season Sept. 12-14 with a trio of matches in Milwaukee, Wis., against Milwaukee (Sept. 12), Marquette (Sept. 13), and Ball State (Sept. 14).
— JMU Athletics —
