Colonels’ Lockhart, Islanders’ Uigaese collect Southland Volleyball weekly awards

FRISCO, Texas – Nicholls’ Kylie Lockhart and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s Montez Uigaese are the Southland Conference Volleyball Players of the Week, the league announced Monday. Southland weekly awards are presented by GEICO.

Collecting her first weekly award, Lockhart paced the Colonels at home by registering 51 digs and limiting the opposition to a .166 hitting percentage. The senior libero averaged 6.4 digs per set over eight sets of play against Southeastern Thursday and Northwestern State Saturday. Nicholls (8-11, 1-6 SLC) moved up to the seventh spot on the volleyball standings after recording its first conference win of the season over the Lady Demons. Lockhart and the rest of the Colonels head to Hammond, La., for their second meeting of the season against the Lady Lions on Thursday, Oct. 21. First serve is slated for 6:30 p.m. and can be see on ESPN+.

Uigaese led the way for the Islanders last week, logging 3.67 kills per set and a .353 hitting percentage. The Long Beach, Calif., native turned in a career day against the Huskies Saturday with a .404 hitting percentage and 25 kills, which topped her previous career-high of 14 set last season. A&M-Corpus Christi (11-7, 7-0 SLC) sits atop the volleyball standings on a seven-game win streak and remain undefeated in conference play. The Islanders take the court again Thursday night on the road against McNeese at 6:30 p.m.

Defensive Player of the Week: Kylie Lockhart, Nicholls – Sr. – Libero – Friendswood, Texas
Senior Lockhart turned in 25- and 26-dig performances to help the Colonels secure their first Southland Conference win of the season. Lockhart averaged 6.4 digs in the eight sets and was perfect in receiving for the week. Lockhart’s defense contributed to a .166 opponent hitting percentage and the .168 and .164 clips were the two lowest for the Colonels in conference play. This award is the first of Lockhart’s career.

Honorable Mention: Haley Hoang, Northwestern State; Cicily Hidalgo, SLU; Carissa Barnes, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

Offensive Player of the Week: Montez Uigaese, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi – Gr. – Outside Hitter – Long Beach, Calif.
Uigaese turned in a career day against the second-place Huskies with a .404 hitting percentage and 25 kills, which surpassed her previous career-high of 14. Her 25 kills were two shy of the school record for a single-match. This marks Uigaese’s first weekly award of her career.

Honorable Mention: Emily Gauthreaux, Nicholls; Symone Wesley, Northwestern State; Cicily Hidalgo, SLU

Date, Offensive, Defensive
Aug. 30, Sara Arroyo, HBU, Macy Sumrall, UIW
Sept. 6, Ebonie Ballesteros, HBU, Carissa Barnes, A&M-CC
Sept. 13, Ellie Wipf, HBU, Carissa, Barnes, A&M-CC
Sept. 20, Cicily Hidalgo, SLU, Carissa Barnes, A&M-CC
Sept. 27, Cicily Hidalgo, SLU, Ebonie Ballesteros, HBU
Oct. 4, Faith Panhans, A&M-CC, Carissa Barnes, A&M-CC
Oct. 11, Faith Panhans, A&M-CC, Carissa Barnes, A&M-CC
Oct. 18, Montez Uigaese, A&M-CC, Kylie Lockhart, Nicholls
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.