Valerie Whalen Named GNAC WVB Player of Week

WINTHROP, Mass. – With a nearly flawless week of offense to help Regis College win its first two league matches of the season, senior Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, Mass.) has been named the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Volleyball Player of the Week, announced Monday afternoon by the conference office.

Whalen played the first set in the team's 3-0 sweep of Lesley last Tuesday, collecting four kills including three within Regis's final four points. She then earned nine kills on 13 attack attempts without an error for a .692 hitting percentage along with three total blocks in the Pride's 3-0 victory over Anna Maria Saturday morning.

Later Saturday, Whalen once again finished with nine kills without making an attack error, posting a .474 hitting percentage as the Pride swept Emmanuel to extend their match-winning streak to eight and their set-winning streak to 23.

For the season, Whalen is currently second on the team and fourth in the GNAC in hitting percentage at .308, plus she leads the team with 84 total kills and is tied for second on the squad with 14 total blocks. She has made just two attack errors in the last six matches while collecting 38 kills, posting a .514 hitting percentage in that span.

Whalen becomes the first Regis student-athlete to receive GNAC Player of the Week recognition since the Pride joined the conference in the fall of 2017 and the second Pride player to pick up any GNAC weekly women's volleyball award, as Caroline Fuentes was named GNAC Libero of the Week Sept. 25, 2017.

Regis (8-3, 2-0 GNAC) concludes its eight-match homestand this week against Norwich Tuesday, Sept. 28, at 6:30 p.m. and Fisher Thursday, Sept. 30, at 6 p.m.