Rheagan Keen Garners Fourth AAC Defensive Player of the Week Award
September 28, 2019
DAYTON, Tenn. – Another impressive week for the Bryan College volleyball team and another remarkable defensive effort by junior defensive specialist/libero Rheagan Kean, as the Chattanooga, Tenn. native garnered her fourth Defensive Player of the Week award this season from the Appalachian Athletic Conference. Of the six weeks that the weekly awards have taken place this 2019 season, Kean has made her place amongst the league’s bests by winning the majority of the defensive titles.
Over the stretch, which covered contests from Monday, Sept. 23 through Saturday, Sept. 28, Kean recorded 77 digs in 10 sets for an average of 7.7 digs per set. She also chipped in eight assists and three aces. Despite falling behind 2-1 in both matches, the Lions displayed their mental toughness by rallying back and securing the pair of conference victories over Columbia International University (S.C.) on Friday (21-25, 25-13, 19-25, 25-12, 15-11) and St. Andrews University (N.C.) on Saturday (16-25, 25-18, 24-26, 25-20, 15-9). While five-set battles are taxing and require poise to prevail, Bryan has managed to come out on top in six of their eight five-set matches played this year.
The victory over St. Andrews marked a memorable moment in Kean’s career, as she posted a career-high 49 digs. She’s compiled 480 digs on the season while carrying a 6.32 digs per set average, which not only positions her as the conference leader in both categories, but she currently ranks 2nd in the NAIA in total digs and 5th in digs per set.
After the successful week, Bryan continues to build on the best overall record in the AAC’s north division at 13-6 while owning a notable 7-2 mark in conference play, trailing only Union College’s 9-0 conference record. In the south division, it’s (RV) Reinhardt University (Ga.) leading the way at 14-2 overall and 8-0 in the AAC.
With their six-game road stint behind them, the Lions return home for a “Black Out” (wear black in support of your Lions) match on Tuesday, Oct. 1 at 6:30pm in Summers Gym against neighboring conference rival Tennessee Wesleyan University. The Bulldogs enter with a 3-11 overall record and conference record of 3-6.
Previous Player of the Week award winners
Week 1 - Cheetara Bing, Reinhardt (Attacker); Mar Vives, Reinhardt (Defender);
Abby Maxwell, Truett McConnell (Setter)
Week 2 - Courtney Pressley, Reinhardt (Attacker); Rheagan Kean, Bryan
(Defender); Kellee Geren, Milligan (Setter)
Week 3 - Shelby Glawson, Reinhardt (Attacker); Rheagan Kean,
Bryan (Defender); Kellee Geren, Milligan (Setter)
Week 4 - Julie Dockery, Milligan (Attacker); Rheagan Kean, Bryan
(Defender); Kellee Geren, Milligan (Setter)
Week 5 - Brittany Taksas, Reinhardt (Attacker); Allison Ruddick,
Union (Defender), Kassidy Holloway, Bluefield (Setter)
Week 6 - Katie Kendrick, Bluefield (Attacker); Rheagan Kean, Bryan
(Defender); Julia Felix, Point (Setter)
To view the full 2019 volleyball schedule, click here.
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