BGSU volleyball’s sophomore libero Sydnie Hernandez was named the Mid-American Conference’s (MAC) Defensive Player of the Week following the Falcons’ weekend series against Ball State.
This is her first weekly MAC honor, the sixth individual Falcon to be selected in midweek honorees, and the second BG DPOTW with Helen Wilford on Sept. 29.
Hernandez started her weekend with a career-high 26 digs and six assists in BG’s five-set loss to the Cardinals on Thursday, adding 17 more digs and one more assist in Friday’s three-set loss.
The Thursday match against Ball State marked her third this season, reaching 20+ digs, and is the most for any Falcon since the Orange and Brown’s libero Yelianiz Torres recorded 33 against Ball State in the 2022 MAC Championship match.
The Bloomington, Illinois native, has begun to make her mark at Bowling Green very early on. In her rookie season in 2024, Hernandez reached 40 aces, which tied for fourth in the Rally Scoring Era (since 2001) in aces in a season. She has over doubled her digs per set number from 2024 to 2025 while being BG’s first sophomore Libero since 2019.
Currently, Hernandez is fourth in the MAC in digs per set, fifth in total digs, and tied for ninth in total aces.
Hernandez and the Falcons travel to Kalamazoo, Mich., for a series against the Western Michigan Broncos on Fri., Oct. 24 and Sat., Oct. 25.
