WEEKLY RELEASE
JERSEY CITY, NJ...Junior outside hitter CURTIS ABRAM (San Luis Obispo, CA) of Emmanuel College and freshman outside hitter MATT HOHENBERGER (St. Louis, MO) of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have been selected as the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Conference Player and Rookie of the Week for week seven of the 2010 season.
Abram is the NECVA Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career after leading Emmanuel to a perfect 6-0 week that included wins over three nationally ranked teams. He was named the MVP of the MIT Invitational after averaging 5.73 points, 5.00 kills, 1.91 digs, 0.59 blocks and 0.36 aces, while posting a .411 hitting percentage. He also was named the GNAC Player of the Week for the second straight week. He totaled 110 kills, including the 1,000th of his career and just 27 errors on 202 swings, with 42 digs, 13 blocks and eight aces in 22 sets. On March 2, he delivered 17 kills and three blocks while hitting .375 as the Saints handed Rivier their first-ever GNAC divisional loss, 3-1. In a 3-2 win over then #10 Milwaukee School of Engineering on March 4, the 6-foot-2 outside slammed 27 kills, hitting .422 (27-8-45), finishing with a double-double with 13 digs and two blocks. In a sweep of New Haven on March 6 in the opening match of the MIT Invitational, he hit an astounding .682 with 17 kills (17-2-22), seven digs, and three aces. He hit .304 with 11 kills and two blocks in a sweep of Bard. On March 7, he unleashed 25 kills and hit .380 (25-6-50), with eight digs, in a 3-1 win over then #5 Carthage. He capped the week with a 13-kill, six-dig, five-block showing in a sweep of Mount Saint Vincent, hitting .367.
For his efforts, Abram was also selected as the Sports Imports/AVCA Men’s Division III National Player of the Week.
Hohenberger is the NECVA Conference Player of the Week for the second time in three weeks and the New England Division Rookie of the Week for the fourth time in seven weeks as the Engineers went 4-1 at the MIT Invitational. In 16 sets, the 6-foot-6 outside slammed 62 kills, 13 blocks and nine aces, averaging 4.91 points, 3.88 kills, 0.81 blocks and 0.56 aces per set with a .342 attack percentage. In a 3-2 win over Newbury at home on March 2, he hit .359 with 22 kills (22-8-39), three blocks and three aces. He had 12 kills and five blocks in a 3-1 loss to Milwaukee School of Engineering before hitting .571 with 10 kills (10-2-14) in just two sets against Mount Saint Vincent, as MIT won, 3-0. In a 3-1 victory over #5 Carthage College, he bagged 16 kills (16-6-30), hit .333, and contributed three aces and two blocks.
The NECVA Conference Player and Rookie of the Week is selected by the league office each Tuesday throughout the season based on the five divisional winners in the two categories in the CUNYAC, GNAC, Metro, New England and Western Divisions. All 43 active members of the league are eligible for weekly honors.