Morgan Ballard - Austin
Freshman, Middle Blocker, 5-9 (Sherman, Texas - Sherman High School)
Photo courtesy Austin athletics.
Morgan Ballard, a freshman
middle blocker for then-No. 14 Austin College, has been named the Sports
Imports/AVCA Division III National Player of the Week for helping her team
to three wins last week, including a win over nationally ranked Southwestern
(Texas). In her team's opening match of the week, a 3-1 win over DePauw,
Ballard hit at a steady .556 clip behind 18 kills in 27 attempts with only
three errors. She also chipped in two solo blocks and four block assists in
the victory. Against Centre, Ballard tallied 10 kills and one block assist
in the Kangaroos’ 3-0 win, while hitting .533. She ended the week by hitting
a blazing .600 on 19 kills in 25 attempts with only four errors in Austin's
3-2 win over then-No. 23 Southwestern. She added one dig and six total
blocks in the match. For the week, Ballard had a .567 hitting percentage,
while averaging 4.27 kills and 1.18 blocks per game. Ballard is the second
athlete from Austin College to earn Sports Imports/AVCA Division III
National Player of the Week honors, and the first since Veronica Stephens on
October 23, 2006. The Kangaroos are coached by Ed Garza.
