PORTLAND, Ore. – Getting a volleyball past Allison Wilks wasn't easy last week.
 
The Seattle Pacific junior came up with 17 total blocks, and on Monday was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Week.
 
 

The 6-foot-1 junior had a career-high 10 blocks in a 3-2 victory against Central Washington last Thursday in Brougham Pavilion. Her previous high had been eight (at Alaska Fairbanks on Sept. 23, 2021). Against the Wildcats, she also had five kills on .286 hitting, four digs, and a service aces.
 
On Saturday against Northwest Nazarene, Wilks had seven more blocks, along with nine kills on .500 hitting, and another service aces. For the week, she averaged 1.89 blocks per set and 1.56 kills per set on .400 hitting (14 kills-2 errors-30 attacks).
 
Wilks now has pushed her season average to 1.01 blocks per set, with 83 total in 82 sets played. That is tied for No. 6 on the conference list. She has six solos (one of which came against NNU on Saturday), which is double what she had for the combined first two years of her career.
 
With five regular-season matches remaining, Wilks needs just 13 more blocks to reach 200 for her career.
 
Her .500 hitting mark (9-1-16) in the Northwest Nazarene match was her fourth this fall. Wilks also had had one match in the .300s, two in the .400s, and one in the .700s, that a .714 (6-1-7) against Chaminade on Sept. 3 to tie her career high.
 
This is Wilks' first Player of the Week honor and is the second for SPU this season. Hannah Hair was named Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 3, and the Falcons were named Team of the Week on Sept. 26.
 
Seattle Pacific is on the road this week, visiting Saint Martin's in Lacey on Thursday at 7:00 p.m., and then heading to Western Oregon on Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. contest.