LAKELAND, Fla. - Sophomore
Nako Sasaki, a sophomore libero for the Florida Southern College volleyball team, has been named the Sunshine State Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the period of September 1-7. This marks her first career weekly honor at Florida Southern.
This past weekend, Sasaki delivered an impressive debut performance with three matches featuring 20 or more digs. She recorded 24 digs, eight assists, and four service aces in a 3-2 victory against Anderson. Sasaki then achieved a Sunshine State Conference single-match high of 31 digs, along with six assists and two service aces, in another 3-2 win over Hillsdale, a team receiving votes in the AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II WVB Poll. The weekend concluded with a 3-1 victory against Augusta, where Sasaki contributed 21 digs, three assists, and a service ace. She currently leads the conference with an average of 5.43 digs per set and is tied for 14th in service aces per set at 0.50.
Sasaki, hailing from Nihonmatsu, Fukushima, Japan, played her high school volleyball at Shimokitazawa Seitoku and previously attended and competed at the University of South Carolina - Lancaster.
Sasaki and the rest of the FSC volleyball team will be back in action this weekend, Sept. 12-13 at the Rattler Invitational, hosted by St. Mary's in San Antonio, Texas. The Mocs will face three tough opponents including 4-0 Fairmont State, who took down SSC opponent Palm Beach Atlantic 3-1 on the opening weekend, 1-3 St. Mary's who defeated ninth-ranked Chaminade in its most recent contest and finally seventh-ranked Central Oklahoma who is 4-0 with a sweep of fifth-ranked Ferris State.
