Kills, digs and aces: Vote for IHSAA volleyball players of the week (Oct. 2-7)

IndyStar will be recognizing the top volleyball players in Indiana with our players of the week poll.

Scroll to the bottom of the article to vote. Voting is open until noon Thursday.

There will be a Player of the Week poll for sectionals week. To nominate players for consideration, email Brian Haenchen at bhaenchen@gannett.com or message him on Twitter: @Brian_Haenchen. We will be accepting nominees for the upcoming week until Sunday at 10 a.m. EST.

Congratulations to Terre Haute South’s Lilly Merk on being voted Player of the Week for Sept. 25-30! The Valparaiso commit set a new career-high en route to reaching a career milestone Thursday night. She cleared the 1,000-kill mark for her career with a 34-kill performance in a four-set win over Northview. Merk, who added 22 digs, totaled an additional 28 kills in wins over West Vigo, Boonville and Evansville Central. 

Player of the Week winners will be honored at IndyStar’s Indiana Sports Awards this spring.

Sectionals: Scores, schedule, updated pairings

Here are the top performers from the past week.

Dakota Elliott, Perry Meridian

The senior Bradley commit made school history last Tuesday, breaking the all-time blocks record with 228 through four varsity seasons (237 sets). The 5-10 middle blocker has 44 total blocks this season, with six across two matches to kick off October (she had seven vs. Roncalli on Sept. 28).

Hadleigh Filipovich, Lutheran

The senior picked up 14 kills and hit .303 vs. Morristown, then tallied 17 kills and hit .279 vs. Cascade. She also served up two aces, posted 22 digs (11 in each match) and notched two assists. 

Lexi Gin, Brebeuf Jesuit

Another player, another school record broken, this one by the Penn State-bound junior from Brebeuf, who cleared 1,000 career digs with her 22-dig effort vs. North Central in the regular-season finale. It was the 14th 20-dig performance by Gin this season. 

Ryleigh Hamilton, Southport

The junior logged a season-high 18 kills on .395 hitting in a 3-1 win over Terre Haute North. She also had two aces, 11 blocks (five solo) and four digs in the match. Hamilton finished the week with 56 kills and has cleared 10 kills in six straight matches. 

Aiva Kresge, Greenwood Christian Academy

The sophomore setter pushed closer to the 400-assist mark entering the weekend with 14 helpers in a sweep of Southwestern and 20 in a three-set sweep of Morristown. Kresge also tallied seven kills and two aces. 

Lacy Rathbun, Western

Rathbun notched 37 kills and 30 digs over three matches at the Twin Lakes Invite on Saturday. She had over 300 kills entering the week. 

Leah Richmond, Lawrence North

The senior totaled 70 assists over four matches Saturday, highlighted by a 20-assist performance vs. Mt. Vernon. Lawrence North went 3-1 on the day with the lone loss coming to Noblesville in the final match. 

Natalie Sevier, New Palestine

The sophomore celebrated senior night with a career-high 20 kills in the Dragons’ wild five-set win over rival Mt. Vernon. She also had 10 kills between matches against Noblesville and Shelbyville. 

Hannah Sutton, FW Northrop

The senior setter crossed 1,000 career assists Tuesday night with a 25-assist performance vs. FW North Side. She added 13 assists vs. Concordia Lutheran, giving her 617 for the season. 

Kennedy Urban, Franklin

The senior cleared 2,000 career assists on Sept. 30 vs. Noblesville, then further padded her total with 28 vs. Beech Grove and 33 vs. Columbus North — both three-set sweeps for the Grizzly Cubs. Urban has 848 assists this season.

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.