NEW ORLEANS – Arkansas State’s Kaitlin Whitlock, Georgia Southern’s Maddie Cugino and Southern Miss’ Allie Hazelwoodd 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
Kaitlin Whitlock, Arkansas State
(4th Yr., OH, San Antonio, Texas)
Arkansas State outside hitter Kaitlin Whitlock was atop the league with 5.17 kills per set and ranked third in the league with a .475 attack percentage during the first weekend of conference play. She led the team with 11 kills on a .500 clip in a 3-0 victory over ULM on Sept. 24 and followed with her first 20-kill performance of the season on a .459 percentage in a 3-0 win the following night. Whitlock posted the most kills by a Sun Belt player in a three-set match over the weekend and fell two kills shy of tying for the highest single-match total outright.
Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week
Maddie Cugino, Georgia Southern
(3rd Yr., L, Columbus, Ohio)
Georgia Southern libero Maddie Cugino recorded 20 digs and 10 serve receive attempts in a 3-0 away win against Coastal Carolina on September 25th. The third year ranks first in the Sun Belt in digs per set in conference play (6.50) and tallied a 92.7 dig percentage on the weekend with a 31.7% dig to point. She contributed 19 digs and 10 serve receive attempts in another 3-0 away win against Coastal Carolina on September 26th. For the week, she totaled 39 digs and 20 serve receive attempts over the two matches and picked up 6.5 digs per set as the Eagles swept Coastal Carolina on the road for the first time in program history.
Volleyball Setter of the Week
Allie Hazelwood, Southern Miss
(4th Yr., S, Madison, Miss.)
This week Southern Miss went 2-0 picking up a pair of wins at LA Tech as fourth year setter Allie Hazelwood facilitated a Golden Eagle offense that averaged the third most kills per set this week with (14.57) and 5th best hitting percentage (.239) among SBC teams. Hazelwood ranked first in the SBC this week with 83 total assists and assists per set with 11.86. The Madison, Miss., native recorded her third double-double of the season on Saturday with 46 assists (most assists in a match in the SBC this week) to go along with 14 digs and 2 block assists and finished with 37 assists (most in a 3-set match in the SBC this week) on Friday.
2026 Sun Belt Volleyball Offensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – Kalina Calvillo, Troy
Week 2 – Reagan Barth, Georgia Southern
Week 3 – Sophia Johnson, Georgia State
Week 4 – Kennedy Louisell, James Madison
Week 5 – Kaitlin Whitlock, Arkansas State
2026 Sun Belt Volleyball Defensive Players of the Week
Week 1 – Dalayla Blackwell, South Alabama
Week 2 – Mia Maloney, Arkansas State
Week 3 – MeMe Davis, App State
Week 4 – Ayen Nhial, James Madison
Week 5 – Maddie Cugino, Georgia Southern
2026 Sun Belt Volleyball Setters of the Week
Week 1 – Allie Hazelwood, Southern Miss
Week 2 – Kaylee Musick, Coastal Carolina
Week 3 – Raegan Richardson, App State
Week 4 – Anabelle Cerny, South Alabama
Week 5 – Allie Hazelwood, Southern Miss