Mizzou freshman outside hitter Sydney Deeken, California, was named SEC Freshman of the Week, as announced on Monday, Sept. 29, by the league office. This is the first conference weekly honor for Deeken and the first SEC weekly honor for the Tigers this season. She is the first Tiger to take home SEC Freshman of the Week honors since current teammate Carly Kan earned the distinction on Oct. 14 of last season.
"This is obviously really cool for me," Deeken said. "It was frustrating while I was hurt earlier this season, but to be able to contribute to the team now means a lot to me. Coming in as a freshman, you can just hope to get better and I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be contributing like I am. My teammates help me out a lot and we have so many steady players in our lineup that make my job really easy."
Deeken averaged 3.42 points and 2.83 kills per set last weekend to open SEC play, earning her first career starts against Mississippi State and Tennessee. Now in the starting lineup after missing the first three weeks of the season with an abdominal strain, she reset career-highs in kills (10), hitting (.368) and digs (nine) against Mississippi State, and also had career-highs in attempts (21) and aces (two) against Tennessee. Deeken's 20.5 total points were second on the team last weekend.
Deeken and the Tigers face a tough road test at Ole Miss on Wednesday in a nationally-televised match on SEC Network at 6 p.m. with Adam Amin and Hannah Werth on the call. For all the latest on Mizzou volleyball, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on twitter @MizzouVB.
Deeken is the daughter of Jim and Mary Beth Deeken, California.