SXU's Pennala, ONU's Marquez, VU's Amdur Claim First Set of Men's Volleyball Weekly Awards

CHICAGO --- Saint Xavier University's Matt Pennala (Long Beach, Calif.), Olivet Nazarene University's Kahaku Marquez (Salt Lake, Hawaii) and Viterbo University's Logan Amdur (Machesney Park, Ill.) have claimed the first set of Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference men's volleyball weekly accolades for the 2024 campaign, the league office announced on Thursday.

Pennala was honored as the CCAC Attacker of the Week after averaging 3.55 kills per set and hitting at a .220 clip.  He also registered 67 receptions and six blocks over three matches.

The junior outside hitter's best performance came last Thursday in a four-set loss to The Master's University (Calif.), where he averaged 4.5 kills per set and attacked at a .286 percentage.  He also averaged 3.0 kills per set in setbacks to Ottawa University (Ariz.) on Friday and William Penn University (Iowa) on Saturday.

The competitions were Saint Xavier's first three of the year.

Marquez, meanwhile, secured CCAC Defender of the Week accord after recording 13 blocks, 12 of which were of the solo variety, over three matches and 13 sets during the week ending Jan. 28.  Offensively, the junior middle blocker averaged 2.15 kills per set, while attacking at a .408 percentage.

Nearly half of Marquez's 13 blocks came on Saturday in a five-set loss to Indiana Tech.  In the match, he produced five solo and one assist block, while totaling 15 kills in 23 chances (.522).

Marquez also had four solo blocks on Friday in a three-set win over Talladega College (Ala.) and three versus Georgetown College (Ky.) in a five-set loss on Saturday.

ONU's three matches were its first of the season.

Andur rounded out the list of award winners with his CCAC Setter of the Week honor.  He delivered averages of 9.08 assists and 1.85 digs per set, while also producing 11 blocks.

The sophomore opened the week with 36 assists (12.0 avg.), eight digs and four blocks in a straight-set victory over Brescia University (Ky.) on Friday.  He also had the same number of assists and five digs in a four-set decision over University of Rio Grande (Ohio) on Saturday.

Amdur came up with 23 assists in each of his two other matches, three-set losses versus Missouri S&T on Friday and Westcliff University (Calif.) on Saturday.

Viterbo is 2-2 to start the campaign.

Other Attacker Nominees: Dane Kerkman (Viterbo), Nick Fox (St. Ambrose), Elijah Gregg (Judson), Cade Ooms (Olivet Nazarene).

Other Defender Nominees: Ethan Karban (St. Ambrose), Grant Shipley (Judson), Andres Velez (Saint Xavier).

Other Setter Nominees: Cameron Daniels (Saint Xavier), Tomas Gonzalez (Olivet Nazarene).