BOZEMAN — Montana State sophomore setter Teagan Jaynes has been named Big Sky Conference co-offensive player of the week after a career-best performance at Northern Arizona and a Bobcat win at Portland State.
“Teagan had another great weekend where she had big assist numbers every set, and I think that makes us a difficult offensive team to play against,” head coach Matt Houk said. “It is a huge advantage when you have a setter who can spread out the offense and keep a bunch of hitters where they have a chance to kill the ball on a high percentage of their swings.”
In Flagstaff, Ariz., Jaynes recorded 56 assists in just four sets, besting her career-high 53 from earlier this season. She added 41 assists in Saturday’s win over PSU, rounding out the weekend with a 13.86 average per set. Between the two games, the sophomore standout added six kills, 19 digs and a service ace. Jaynes shares offensive honors with Alayna Tessena of Northern Colorado.
“I think anybody can see that she can set a great ball, but part of the development as a setter is when to set who and how to make those decisions to create spaces for hitters to have the best opportunity to make kills,” Houk said. “We consistently have three or four hitters in double-digit kills, regardless of whether we played a three-set match or a five-set match, and I think that says a lot about Teagan’s decision-making abilities.”
This marks the first conference recognition for Jaynes, who has totaled 1,539 assists across 163 sets in just her second season of collegiate volleyball. She is the first offensive player of the week and the second Montana State student-athlete to be recognized this season after Nicolette Noble earned defensive honors twice.
Jaynes and the Bobcats return to Bozeman on Oct. 15 and 17 to host Utah Tech and Southern Utah in their first meetings as Big Sky opponents.
