Kylie Atherstone, a sophomore outside hitter for the No. 19 Cal Poly Mustangs, has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week after leading her team to two conference road wins this past week against Pacific and Cal State Northridge. Earlier today she received her second Big West Volleyball Player of the Week accolade of the season.

Not only is Atherstone the first Mustang to receive this weekly award, but she is also the first Big West student-athlete to earn national recognition by the AVCA since Nov. 15, 2004, when UC Santa Barbara’s Kristin Nelson grabbed the top honor.

Blasting 23 kills and no errors for a season-best .590 hitting percentage, the Chico, Calif., native helped the Mustangs capture their first victory at Pacific in 21 years. Later in the week Atherstone helped No. 19 Cal Poly post the program's best conference start in school history by defeating Cal State Northridge, 3-0, and improving to a perfect 8-0 record in Big West play. In that match she led the team with 16 kills to post a .316 clip.

For the week, Atherstone averaged 6.50 kills per game, more than 2 kills per game higher than her season average of 4.45. In addition, she had a .361 hitting percentage and averaged 2.50 digs per game and 1.00 blocks per game.

Riding a nine-match win streak, Cal Poly returns to Mott Gym, where they haven’t lost a contest since Oct. 1, 2005, to host Long Beach State and UC Irvine. The Mustangs face the 49ers on Friday night, followed by a Saturday-night showdown with the Anteaters. Both contests are slated for 7:00 p.m.