Taylor Austin of Ashburn Named CAA Defensive Player of the Week

2016 Oct 28

Leading James Madison volleyball to an undefeated week on the court, junior libero Taylor Austin of Ashburn was named CAA Defensive Player of the Week.

The Dukes tallied three crucial league wins over the past week, beginning with a 3-1 upset over conference leader Northeastern on Thursday. JMU closed the weekend with two additional four-set victories over Elon and Hofstra to improve to 14-10 overall and 6-5 in conference action as the Dukes closed the gap between the 8-2 Huskies in the league standings.

Ranking as one of the top defensive specialist in the country, Austin earned her first weekly honor of her junior campaign after racking up 85 digs to pace the Duke defense to an undefeated week. Austin tallied 25 or more digs in all three contests, including garnered 30 against Elon for the Ashburn, Va. native's third outing of the year with 30 or more digs. Austin averaged 7.08 digs per set and recorded a perfect reception percentage over 12 sets. The junior also added one kill, one service ace and 20 assists.

Austin leads the conference and ranks second in the nation with a 5.81 digs per set average, which is the third highest single-season mark in program history. The junior also currently ranks fourth in single-season digs with 482. The libero has moved into third place on JMU's career digs chart with 1,349 and currently ranks second in career digs average with a 4.73 mark. The defensive honor is the third for Austin over her career.

James Madison begins its final road tilt of the 2016 regular season on Friday, Oct. 28 when the Dukes travel to William & Mary to face the Tribe at 7 p.m.