4 Knights receive AAC weekly laurels

WALESKA, Ga. — Strong recent performances were recognized by the Appalachian Athletic Conference on Monday, which named St. Andrews softball’s Charlee Mullins its Pitcher of the Week and St. Andrews men’s volleyball’s Hazem Abdelghafar its Attacker of the Week, Kenton Bedford its Defender of the Week and Dakota Hotaling its Setter of the Week.

Mullins, a senior from Camden, South Carolina, went 1-1 with a 1.40 ERA on the week while recording a no-hitter in St. Andrews’ softball’s 2-0 win against Union and allowing three earned runs on three hits and seven walks with 11 strikeouts in 15 innings of work.

It is her first weekly honor this season.

St. Andrews softball is 5-19 this season with a 1-4 AAC mark. The Lady Knights play a doubleheader at Shaw University on Tuesday.

Abdelghafar, a junior from Cairo, Egypt, helped St. Andrews men’s volleyball to a 3-1 record last week while averaging 3.62 kills per set with a .301 hitting percentage and posting a high of 21 kills with 11 digs in a 3-2 win against Campbellsville (Ky.). He also served up two aces and had 47 kills, 23 digs and four blocks on the week.

This is his first weekly honor of the season.

Bedford, a senior from Midlothian, Virginia, averaged 1.00 block per set and had 18 kills, 14 blocks and four digs on the week while posting seven blocks apiece against Campbellsville and Lee-McRae.

This is his first weekly honor of the season.

Hotaling, a graduate student from Center Moriches, New York, posted 140 assists, 23 digs, nine kills, four aces and eight blocks on the week while averaging 9.33 assists per game; Hotaling logged 53 assists against Campbellsville and had a double-double against Benedict with 36 assists and 13 digs.

This is the second week in a row Hotaling has been selected as the league’s Setter of the Week; it’s his second weekly honor of the season.

The St. Andrews men’s volleyball team is 14-7 on the year with a 3-3 AAC record; its next match is at home against Rio Grande on Wednesday.