Bengal Athlete of the Week Record
OGDEN, Utah – It's been a busy week for sophomore Lori Mendenhall whose three straight double-double performances have garnered the setter all-tournament and MVP honors at the UniWyo Cowgirl Classic, Big Sky Player of the Week honors and her first Bengal Athlete of the Week honor. The BAW honor is for games played from Sept. 5-11.
Mendenhall, a sophomore from Salt Lake City, Utah, led the Bengals to their first tournament title of the season at the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic with three straight double-double performances. Her outstanding play earned the Bengal her first Most Valuable Player and first all-tournament team honors.
“I felt very honored and thankful to have such a great team,” said Mendenhall of earning her first MVP and all-tournament team honors. “A setter can't do anything without their passers and hitters so I am really grateful that we have such great players on our team.”
Mendenhall opened the tournament with back-to-back double-doubles playing Georgia State and Illinois State in the first day of the tournament. Mendenhall had a 34 assist and 11 dig three-set performance against Georgia State, then had 41 assists and 10 digs against Illinois State in a five-set match.
The 5-8 setter finished the tournament with a career-high tying 58 assists and a career-high 16 digs against Wyoming in the championship match beating the Cowgirls in four sets. Over the tournament, Mendenhall averaged 11.08 assists per set and 3.08 digs per set. The setter also recorded nine kills with a .389 attack percentage and had seven block assists.
Mendenhall's efforts allowed the Bengals to capture its second UniWyo Cowgirl Classic title after earning the honor for the first time in 2009. The tournament championship also marks the third straight year the Bengals have won a tournament.
“We really wanted to come in and prove that we can actually play better than we have been playing,” said Mendenhall of her mindset coming into the tournament. “We knew if we were going to win this tournament that we would have to play together as a team, and we did that.”
Other nominated include: Rachel Strawn (soccer), Rodrick Rumble (football), Bradi Hutchison (women's cross country), Keane Shuler (men's cross country).
