NEW ORLEANS – James Madison’s Kennedy Louisell, Coastal Carolina’s Anna Rita and Georgia Southern’s Kirsten Barrett each turned in impressive performances to lead in various statistics across the league. They have been named Sun Belt Conference Volleyball Players of the Week.
Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week
Kennedy Louisell, James Madison
(Jr., OH, Grand Rapids, Mich.)
James Madison junior outside hitter Kennedy Louisell led the Sun Belt in kills (41), kills per set (5.13), points (45.5), and points per set (5.69) as JMU split a pair of matches on the road at App State. Among her conference peers, Louisell's 41 kills were nine more than the next closest player, while she was the only player to average more than five kills per set at 5.13. She also hit .323 with a clip of 41-11-93. She had 22 kills in four sets (5.5 per set) and hit .375 on Friday against the Mountaineers, finishing with a line of 22-4-48 while also adding nine digs and three blocks. On Saturday, Louisell tallied 19 kills and 10 digs for her fifth double-double of the season and hit .267 (19-7-45) as the Dukes won in four over App State.
Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week
Anna Rita, Coastal Carolina
(Jr., MB, Riga, Latvia)
Coastal Carolina’s Anna Rita led all Sun Belt players with 14 total blocks and a .643 (19-1-28) hitting percentage last week, helping Coastal to a 2-0 week with a series sweep of Marshall. The junior averaged 2.00 blocks per set. She scored 12.5 points in the series opener against Marshall with eight kills and nine blocks, while hitting .615 (8-0-13). Rita was credited with a season-high 11 digs in the Chants' second match against the Herd, while hitting .667 (11-1-15) with five blocks for 13.5 points. She currently leads the Sun Belt with 1.151 blocks per set and has recorded nine or more blocks in three matches and collected double-digit kills in three matches.
Volleyball Setter of the Week
Kirsten Barrett, Georgia Southern
(Sr., S, Cleveland, Ohio)
Georgia Southern senior setter Kirsten Barrett averaged a stellar 12.00 digs per set in the Eagles’ pair of 3-0 Sun Belt victories this week. Her 12.00 assists per set were tops of any Sun Belt setter on the week, while she also averaged 3.17 digs per set and 0.50 service aces per set. Barrett directed her team to a .284 hitting percentage for the entire week and registered a double-double in Friday's match with 32 assists and 11 digs, her sixth double-double of the season. She added 40 assists in Thursday's win for a 13.3 assists per set average.
2025 Sun Belt Volleyball Offensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – Jalyn Stout, Coastal Carolina
Week 2 – Kennedy Louisell, James Madison
Week 3 – Jalyn Stout, Coastal Carolina
Week 4 – Daedrianna Cail, Arkansas State
Week 5 – Kennedy Louisell, James Madison
2025 Sun Belt Volleyball Defensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – Maddie Cugino, Georgia Southern
Week 2 – Alexa Strandberg, South Alabama
Week 3 – Anna Rita, Coastal Carolina
Week 4 – Haley Glunz, Arkansas State
Week 5 – Anna Rita, Coastal Carolina
2025 Sun Belt Volleyball Setters of the Week
Week 1 – Kirsten Barrett, Georgia Southern
Week 2 – Anna Blaine, Texas State
Week 3 – Kirsten Barrett, Georgia Southern
Week 4 – Bella Thompson, Marshall
Week 5 – Kirsten Barrett, Georgia Southern