Sept. 17, 2007

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Two straight weeks of dominating play were duly rewarded on Monday as Villanova senior outside hitter Alona Cherkez (Crimea, Ukraine) was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week. Cherkez currently leads the BIG EAST and ranks among the top 10 in the nation in kills per game. She wins her first career player of the week award after being named MVP at the Villanova Classic this past weekend.

Cherkez helped the Wildcats win four of five matches in a busy week as the team improved to 8-4 on the season. She totaled 117 kills and 57 digs while attacking at a .291 percentage for the week, picking up three double-doubles (kills-digs) in that span. Cherkez averaged 5.57 kills and 2.71 digs per game for the week.

In five-game matches against Princeton and William & Mary at the Villanova Classic, Cherkez was in top form with at least 30 kills in both matches. She had 31 kills and 14 digs with just four attack errors in a narrow loss to Princeton, and then came back less than two hours later to register 30 kills and 17 digs with 79 attack attempts in a 3-2 win over William & Mary. The two matches represented the only times in her career that Cherkez has topped 30 kills in a match.

On the first day of competition at its home tournament, Villanova posted wins over Binghamton and Liberty. Cherkez had a double-double with 15 kills and 12 digs against Binghamton and finished with 27 kills in 58 attempts against Liberty. Earlier in the week, the Wildcats defeated Delaware in their home opener behind 14 kills and nine digs from Cherkez.

Villanova is off to a strong start to the season thanks in part to the timely hitting of Cherkez. She is leading the BIG EAST with 5.22 kills per game for the year. Cherkez also averages 2.80 digs per game and has tallied 27 blocks while attacking at a .274 clip.

After just two seasons with the Wildcats, Cherkez entered this season as the program's all-time leader in kills per game and was ranked sixth in digs per game. Earlier this season she recorded her 1000th career kill in a 3-1 win over American.

Villanova carries its 8-4 record into the beginning of conference play this weekend. The Wildcats host Connecticut on Saturday and St. John's on Sunday with both matches beginning at 2 p.m. at Jake Nevin Field House.