IRVING, Texas — Outside hitter Erin Livingston and middle blocker Whitney McEwan-Llarenas were named the Big 12 Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, the conference announced on Tuesday morning.
Livingston led the Cougars offensively to a pair of wins as BYU began Big 12 play last week. The senior finished with game-high kills in both of the Cougars’ Top 25 matches, including 12 against Houston, where she surpassed the 1,000-career kill milestone, becoming just the 23rd BYU player to do so.
On the week, Livingston tallied 25 kills on a .321 clip to go along with three service aces, with her 5.2 points per set ranking second in conference. This is Livingston’s second Big 12 award of the season and of her career.
McEwan-Llarenas paced the Cougars with 16 total blocks on the week, finishing with game-high blocks in both of BYU's matches against ranked foes to open conference play. The middle blocker averaged a league-leading 2.67 blocks per set between the two matches.
Also posting a career-high five digs in the Cougars' sweep of Houston, McEwan-Llarenas became the first BYU player to earn a Big 12 weekly defensive award this season. This is her second-career defensive player of the week award as she was named so once by the WCC last season.
This is the Cougars’ third and fourth league honors of the season after Livingston and Mia Lee (Rookie of the Week) received weekly conference awards to open the 2023 campaign.
No. 9 BYU women’s volleyball continues Big 12 play with two matches at No. 10 Texas this week.