ATLANTA — The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference announced its Women's Volleyball Players of the Week on Tuesday, Oct. 6, honoring student-athletes for impressive performances in matches played last week.
Jarianis Perez (
Albany State),
Ashlyn Whiteside (
Spring Hill),
Naraiya Thompson (
Edward Waters) and
Amiria Anderson (
Albany State) were recognized.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – JARIANIS PEREZ, ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY
Right-Side/Outside Hitter | Sr. | Jacksonville, Fla.
Perez powered the Albany State offense during a perfect 3-0 weekend at the SIAC Crossover. She totaled 43 kills across the three victories, including 19 against Miles, 13 against Lane and 11 against LeMoyne-Owen. Perez also contributed 26 digs and helped the Lady Golden Rams extend their winning streak to five matches.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – ASHLYN WHITESIDE, SPRING HILL COLLEGE
Libero | Sr. | Fairhope, Ala.
Whiteside anchored Spring Hill College's defense during a perfect 3-0 weekend at the 2026 SIAC Crossover No. 2, helping the Badgers sweep all three opponents and extend their conference winning streak to 11 matches. She recorded a team-high 52 digs across nine sets, averaging 5.78 digs per set. Whiteside opened the weekend with a match-high 20 digs against Clark Atlanta before adding 12 digs against Fort Valley State. Whiteside closed the weekend with another 20-dig performance against Allen. Her defensive effort helped Spring Hill limit all three opponents to a combined .061 hitting percentage, including holding Fort Valley State to .034 and Allen to .040. The Badgers went 9-0 in sets during the weekend and improved to 11-0 in SIAC play.
SETTER OF THE WEEK – NARAIYA THOMPSON, EDWARD WATERS UNIVERSITY
Setter | Fr. | Jacksonville, Fla.
Thompson continued her outstanding play, helping Edward Waters go 3-1 on the week, including 3-0 in league play at the SIAC Crossover. She finished the week with 98 assists, 23 digs, five kills and four aces across four matches.
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK – AMIRIA ANDERSON, ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY
Outside/Opposite Hitter | Fr. | Houston, Texas
Anderson delivered an efficient weekend offensively for Albany State, totaling 21 kills across three SIAC victories. She recorded 12 kills while hitting .524 against Miles, followed by five kills on a .500 hitting percentage against Lane and four kills against LeMoyne-Owen. Anderson's contributions helped Albany State finish the crossover unbeaten and extend its winning streak to five matches.
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is an NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) headquartered in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and eight women's sports and is a proud member of NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.