She is the only Gator in the last two seasons to be awarded the national honor.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For her record-breaking performance last week, Florida volleyball’s Kennedy Martin was named this week’s AVCA/Gamechanger Division I Player of the Week, as the organization announced Tuesday afternoon.
The All-American sophomore is one of 14 Gators to earn the accolade and is just one of four to be awarded the honor more than once in their career: Kelly Murphy (3x, 2008,10′,11′), Rhamat Alhassan (2x, 2014-15) and Aycan Gokberk (2x in 1995). During the 2023 season, she became the first Florida freshman to earn the honor following opening weekend of play as well as the fifth Florida freshman to earn the distinction.<https://floridagators.com/news/2023/8/29/volleyball-martin-named-avca-division-i-player-of-the-week.aspx>
The honor comes off the heels of her earning both SEC Player of the Week and SEC Offensive Player of the Week accolades, as announced by the conference yesterday.
In the Gators 3-1 comeback win against Tennessee on Oct. 25, the Fort Mill, South Carolina native registered a career-high 31 kills, while hitting .542 to record the most kills by any Gator in a four-set match as well as the most kills registered during the 25-match point era. Former Gator Aury Cruz, a four-time AVCA All-American and three-time SEC Player of the Year, recorded 31 kills twice in her career when rally scoring went to 30 points. Cruz’s last recorded 31 kills was against Nebraska on December 8, 2001 in Florida’s Final Four match, which went into five sets.
Additionally, the opposite hitter scored a career-high 32.5 points and tallied a season-high eight digs against the Lady Vols. Martin’s 31 kills continue her streak of recording double-digit kills in every match she has played wearing the Orange and Blue (41 matches).
Furthermore, she ranks second in the nation for most kills recorded in a four-set match, and averaged the most kills per set (7.74) and points per set (8.13) in matches played from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28. Martin currently ranks No. 1 in the SEC in points per set (5.61), second in kills per set (4.82), fifth in aces per set (0.43) and ninth for average hitting percentage (.361).
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