Voters in the Week 3 AL.com State Volleyball Player of the Week poll picked a pair of student-athletes from the Coastal region of the state as the top two performers with the third-place finisher coming from way up north.
Libby Rogers of Fairhope was the top vote-getter in the poll, hauling in 4,755 of the 12,632 total ballots cast this week. She earned 38 percent of the vote.
Rogers, a junior setter, had 118 assists, 54 digs, 24 kills and four aces for the Class 7A Pirates (16-5) last week. She helped Fairhope to a third-place tie in the Mako Battle at the Beach tournament in Orange Beach.
Grace Thigpen, Rogers’ counterpart from 20 minutes north at Class 7A No. 7 Daphne High, finished second in the voting. Also a junior setter, Thigpen got 2,291 votes – good for 18 percent of the total.
Last week, she surpassed 1,000 career assists with 177 as the No. 7 Trojans (17-2) won the Mako Battle on the Beach. Thigpen has 391 assists this season and finished the week with 48 digs, eight kills, five aces and four blocks.
About 5½ hours north of Daphne – and 13 minutes from the Tennessee line, since we’re on this geography kick – is Buckhorn High in New Market. Addison Layne, a senior setter for the Bucks, finished third in this week’s voting. She received 1,126 votes, good for 9 percent of the total.
Layne went over 2,000 assists in her career last week after collecting 138 for Buckhorn, now 22-6 on the year. She also had 38 digs and 15 kills.
Watch for the State Volleyball Player of the Week on Tuesdays this season and make your choice known. Nominations come from weekly statistics submitted to [email protected] by coaches or statisticians.
