PORTLAND, Ore. – MSUB senior Ashlynn Ward was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's first Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week for 2016 announced Tuesday. The outside hitter was a consistent presence for MSUB during the team's opening week in Hawaii and has stepped-up her role on the Yellowjacket squad this season.
 
"Ashlynn has been one of our most consistent players through preseason," MSUB head coach Casey Williams said. "She gets a high-percentage of our balls and knows what to do with them. I am very excited she received player of the week recognition and think that it is well-deserved."
 
Ward finished the four-match tournament in Hawaii with 67 kills and is leading the conference in attack percentage at .369 (67-15-141). The native of Rexburg, Idaho, finished with no fewer than 14 kills across each match, and completed a 21 kill performance against Chaminade on Friday. Ward is No. 5 in the GNAC in kills per set with 3.72.
 
With Ward's assistance, the Yellowjackets are leading the league in hitting percentage at .233 (224-88-584) and are fifth in kills per set at 12.44.
 
Stepping-up her playing time for the Yellowjackets this season, Ward has been a presence in the defensive court. She came away with 21 digs to open the season, including nine in the win against BYU-Hawaii. At the net, Ward has amassed 10.0 total blocks, already a quarter of her total from last season.
 
In the match against the Chaminade Silverswords, Word posted 21 kills on a .594 attack percentage (21-2-32), making just two errors on 32 attempts. The 21 kills is two shy of her career-high of 23. In four years as a Yellowjacket, Ward has accumulated 825 total kills and needs an additional 32 to move onto the MSUB all-time top-10.
 
MSU Billings (1-3) continues its 2016 schedule with a tournament in California this week. The Yellowjackets open the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase on Thursday, Sept. 8, against Azusa Pacific. For the complete schedule, please visit the tournament website here.