WSC's Beller named national player of the week

WAYNE, Neb. -- A Wayne State College volleyball player from Platte County is garnering national attention.

Sophomore Taya Beller was announced Tuesday afternoon as the GameChanger/AVCA Division II Women’s National Volleyball Player of the Week following her play over the weekend in NSIC road sweeps at #4 St. Cloud State and #9 Minnesota Duluth. 

It’s the first time since Alyssa Frauendorfer received the award on November 11, 2014 that a Wildcat player has earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors. It is just the sixth time overall a WSC Wildcat has received the honor.

Beller, a 6-2 sophomore middle hitter from Lindsay (Humphrey High School), was named NSIC Offensive Player of the Week Monday after averaging 4.83 kills and 1.67 blocks per set with a stellar .463 hitting percentage in six sets. Beller accounted for 16 kills and eight blocks in Friday’s 3-0 sweep over the #4 Huskies and followed that with 13 kills and two blocks with a .500 hitting percentage in a 3-0 sweep at #9 Minnesota Duluth Saturday. 

For the season, Beller leads WSC with 4.04 kills per set to rank fourth in the league while also ranking second in hitting percentage at .437.  She ranks seventh in NCAA Division II in hitting percentage this season.

Wayne State, ranked #1 in the AVCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, is 16-0 on the season and 6-0 in the NSIC and will host Bemidji State Friday evening at 7 p.m. and Minnesota Crookston Saturday for a 1 p.m. contest in Rice Auditorium.