Shipe Named Big South Defensive Player of Week
10/20/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Liberty senior Gabrielle Shipe has been named the Big South Defensive Player of the Week, for matches from Oct. 13-19.
Shipe, hailing from Orlando, Fla., earns her second Big South Defensive Player of the Week honor of the season, as she was also honored on Sept. 15. This marks the second week in a row that a Liberty student-athlete has been named Defensive Player of the Week, after junior Jade Vorster received the award last week. Shipe was also tabbed ECAC Libero of the Week on Sept. 17.
Shipe helped the Lady Flames go 3-0 last week, with a home win over William & Mary and conference victories at Charleston Southern and Coastal Carolina. She averaged 4.36 digs per set over the three-match span, helping the Lady Flames record 20.55 digs per set as a team.
Last week, she moved into fourth place all-time at Liberty in career digs, passing both Lara Bartolomeo (2004-07) and Jennifer Belk (2001-04) on the program list in the process. Shipe has collected an even 1,600 career digs.
The senior libero collected a team-best 17 digs on Tuesday in a 3-0 sweep of William & Mary, as the Lady Flames recorded 71 digs as a team. She then led the Lady Flames with 18 digs in a 3-1 win at CSU on Friday, helping hold the Buccaneers to a .144 hitting percentage. On Saturday, Shipe added 13 digs in a 3-1 win over second-place Coastal Carolina.
The Lady Flames (20-5, 7-0) have finished the first half of the conference schedule with a perfect 7-0 record, two matches ahead of three second-place teams. Liberty is currently on an 11-match winning streak, and became the second team in NCAA Division I volleyball to win 20 matches this season on Saturday. The team hosts a pair of conference matches this weekend, facing Presbyterian on Friday at 7 in the Vines Center before meeting Winthrop at 1 p.m., Saturday.
