Aug. 29, 2011

St. LOUIS, Mo. - Missouri State sophomore libero Ashley Mason is the season's first Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday afternoon in its weekly volleyball release.

Mason led the Bears defensively in each match last week and finished with 53 digs and a 4.82 per set average. She also tallied five assists and two aces. Mason began the season with a career-high 18 digs in a win over Oral Roberts, then had 10 digs, two assists and an ace in Saturday's sweep of SMU.

Saturday night, the Granby, Mo., native set another career-high with 25 digs at No. 16 Oklahoma, adding another ace and two more assists. She also received serves at a .981 clip in 54 tries as the Bears went 2-1.

The Bears return to action against UC Riverside on Friday (Sept. 2) at 7 p.m. at the USD Invitational in San Diego, Calif. MSU also plays Northeastern and No. 20 San Diego while on the west coast.