McKinney, Arnold honored after opening weekend

With just the first weekend of play in the books, the John Brown University volleyball team earned a pair of Sooner Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors after a strong 4-0 start in Colorado.

Freshman Carly McKinney landed Attacker of the Week accolades while junior Alyssa Arnold was named Setter of the Week, the conference offices announced Monday.

Joining the two Golden Eagles was Defender of the Week, Rossanna Ramos of Wayland Baptist (Texas).

McKinney, in her first collegiate matches, averaged 3.18 kills per set and had posted a .242 (54-15161) attack percentage in JBU’s undefeated weekend.

She set a season high of 19 terminations in John Brown’s come-frombehind win over Montana Western.

More impressively, the 6-foot outside hitter compiled three straight double-doubles, landing double-digit digs in the final three matches of the weekend.

Arnold, coming off a career year in 2015, played the majority of the weekend in a two-setter system, but still notched 5.47 assists in a 17-set span.

The 5-foot-9 setter’s 93 total assists over four matches included a single-match best 25 in the Golden Eagles’ win over Benedictine at Mesa (Ariz.).

The conference honors were the first for both players.

The Golden Eagles resume action at 3 p.m. on Friday in the Benedictine (Kan.) Invitational against host Benedictine in Atchison, Kan.