DALLAS – Liberty’s Jenna Otts, WKU’s Tayler Baron, Missouri State’s Hannah Gardner and FIU’s Lana Sesar earned the Conference USA Volleyball Player of the Week honors.

CUSA Offensive Player of the Week – Jenna Otts, Liberty – Sr. – OH – Saint Johns, Fla.
Otts had a sensational week as she helped Liberty go 3-1 on the week, while averaging 4.27 kills per set at a .307 pace. On Tuesday, she scored 15 kills at a .519 clip in a 3-0 sweep of Radford, good for Liberty's first sweep at Radford since 2008. On Friday, she tied for the match-high with 11 kills in a 3-0 setback to Army. The Lady Flames then bounced back with a reverse sweep against tournament host Hofstra. For the match, Otts scored a career-high 24 kills while hitting .298. She was the first Lady Flame to score 20 or more kills in a match this season. On Saturday against 2025 MAAC champion Fairfield, Otts scored a match-high 14 kills, hitting .225 as the Lady Flames rallied to win in four sets over the Stags.
 
CUSA Defensive Player of the Week – Tayler Baron – Jr. – DS/L – Lascassas, Tenn.
Baron appeared in all 13 sets over the weekend, totaling 62 digs, a .941 reception average, an average of 4.77 digs per set and four aces. She had two matches finishing with 20 plus digs against Pepperdine and Eastern Kentucky. The Lascassas, Tenn., native, logged a season high 22 digs along with an ace in a four-set win over Pepperdine. She added 21 digs and an ace against EKU on Saturday. Baron ranks third in CUSA in total digs (146) and fourth in digs/set with 4.29.
 
CUSA Setter of the Week – Hannah Gardner, Missouri State – So. – Springfield, Mo.
Gardner was named the Hawkeye Invitational MVP after the Bears' 3-0 weekend at Iowa. She averaged a triple-double with 12 kills, 18 assists and 11.7 digs on the weekend. Gardner hit .370 with 15 kills, 17 assists and 14 digs Saturday at Iowa, marking her second match this season with 14 plus in each category, which had not been done at Missouri State since 1989. The sophomore had nine kills, 22 assists, 13 digs and three blocks on Thursday against Incarnate Word. She finished with 12 kills, 15 assists and eight digs on Friday versus Southern Illinois while hitting .281.
 
CUSA Freshman of the Week – Lana Sesar, FIU – OH – Mostar, BIH
Sesar recorded 59 kills (4.21/set) and hit .261 as the Panthers went 4-0 on the week. She recorded 10 plus kills in all four, including 24 in a five-set thriller over Louisiana. Sesar also posted a double-double against the Ragin’ Cajuns with 10 digs. In the Panthers first-ever win over (RV) Florida State, the freshman put down 10 kills, while adding dix digs. Sesar also had 19 digs and seven blocks on the weekend.
 
2026 CUSA Offensive Players of the Week
A31    Laney Daniell, Liberty
S7      Ashley Herman, NM State
S14    Jenna Otts, Liberty
  
2026 CUSA Defensive Players of the Week
A31    Michaela Dlouhá, MTSU
S7      Brooke Eslinger, Missouri State
S14    Tayler Baron, WKU   
 
2026 CUSA Setters of the Week
A31    Kate Rush, WKU
S7      Kate Rush, WKU
S14    Hannah Gardner, Missouri State    
 
2026 CUSA Freshmen of the Week
A31    Marianne Garcia, MTSU
S7      Alexis Sowers, Kennesaw State
S14    Lana Sesar, FIU