DALLAS – Conference USA announced Monday its third 2022 Volleyball Player of the Week honors, presented by Blenders Eyewear. Rice’s Ellie Bichelmeyer earned Offensive Player of the Week, after averaging 3.38 kills per set and teammate, Nia McCardell was selected as Defensive Player of the week, after averaging 6.2 digs per set in four matches at the Rice Adidas Invitational. Middle Tennessee’s Taylor Eisert was named Setter of the Week after averaging 10.75 assists per set and fellow Blue Raider, Adri Rhoda was the Freshman of Week, after having 66.5 points in four matches at the Blue Raider Invitational.  

 C-USA Offensive Player of the Week – Ellie Bichelmeyer, Rice, Sr., Mission Hills, Kansas
Bichelmeyer played a major role in helping the Owls capture the Rice Adidas Invitational tournament title, posting 44 kills on 84 attacks in 11 sets. She averaged 3.38 kills per set while hitting a staggering .452. The senior from Mission Hills, Kansas, had double-figure kills in three of the four matches, including 14 in Rice's thrilling five-set victory over Texas Tech. Bichelmeyer also had 12 kills in a sweep over Brown and 11 kills in a sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In total, she collected 47.0 points for the week.

C-USA Defensive Player of the Week – Nia McCardell, Rice, Jr., Missouri City, Texas
McCardell became just the third player in league history to win a third consecutive C-USA Defensive Player of the Week award, joining Charlotte’s Amani McArthur (2020-21) and WKU’s Sydney Engle (2017) after putting together a performance of a lifetime as she racked up a career-high 36 digs in Rice's five set victory over Texas Tech. The Missouri City, Texas native tied former Owl Nicci Yarber (1989) for the third-most digs by a Rice player in a single match. She also leads all of C-USA in digs per set with 5.45. For the week, McCardell totaled 87 digs, averaging 6.2 per set.
 
C-USA Setter of the Week – Taylor Eisert, Middle Tennessee, Jr., Louisville, Kentucky
Eisert repeats as the Setter of the Week after averaging 10.75 assists per set through four matches, leading the Blue Raiders to the tournament title. The junior from Louisville, Kentucky, had the second highest assist total in a four-set match with 44 and a five-set match with 54 this week. The 5-8 setter also tied her career high in blocks with three against Belmont. Eisert also assisted the Blue Raiders to the second highest hitting percentage in the conference this week with .288 as a team. She is second among setters with 31 digs this week, including a week-high of 10 digs to complete her double-double versus Belmont.
 
C-USA Freshman of the Week – Adri Rhoda, Middle Tennessee, Fr., Hutchinson, Minnesota
Rhoda earned Blue Raider Invitational All-Tournament honors after helping push Middle Tennessee to a 4-0 record on the week and a tournament title. She led the Blue Raiders with 47 kills and 11 service aces on a 0.69 ace per set clip. The Hutchinson, Minnesota native set career highs in kills with 17 against UT Martin, service aces with five against Eastern Kentucky and blocks with four against Grambling and Eastern Kentucky. Rhoda’s 0.69 aces per set was third overall in C-USA this week and first among freshmen. She is ranked first among freshmen and fifth overall in the conference for points per set this week.
 
2022 C-USA Offensive Players of the Week
A29        Emani’ Foster, Charlotte
S5          Emani’ Foster, Charlotte
S12        Ellie Bichelmeyer, Rice
 
2022 C-USA Defensive Players of the Week
A29        Nia McCardell, Rice
S5          Nia McCardell, Rice
S12        Nia McCardell, Rice
 
2022 C-USA Setters of the Week
A29        Callie Bauer, WKU
S5          Taylor Eisert, Middle Tennessee
S12        Taylor Eisert, Middle Tennessee
 
2022 C-USA Freshmen of the Week
A29        Sara Pustahija, UTEP
S5          Adri Rhoda, Middle Tennessee
S12        Adri Rhoda, Middle Tennessee