Sept. 13, 2010

IRVING, Texas - Sophomore outside hitter Altrese Hawkins was named the Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week the League office announced today. Hawkins led Memphis to the Tiger's Memphis Invitational Tournament championship and was tabbed the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. The league honor is the first for Hawkins.

"I am pleased that the Conference chose to recognize Altrese this week," said head coach April Jauregui. "She has had a fantastic start to the 2010 season."

Hawkins was the driving force behind the Tiger's 3-0 weekend. The 5-10 outside hitter led Memphis with 41 kills (3.73/set), while hitting for a team-best .348 average. She downed a team-high 10 kills and hit .364 in Memphis' home opening win over Tennessee State on Friday. The Schaumburg, Ill., native followed that outing by putting away 15 kills and hitting .536 to lead Memphis to a sweep of La Salle. She went errorless on 28 attacks versus the Explorers. Hawkins capped her award-winning winning weekend with 16 kills to help the Tigers to a 3-2 win over Air Force.

Hawkins and the Tigers will round out preseason play this weekend when they travel to Conway, Ark. to play in the UCA Sugar Bear Classic. Memphis will face Jackson State (11 a.m.) and UCA (7 p.m.) on Fri., Sept. 17. The U of M will take on Northwestern State on Sat., Sept. 18 at 10 a.m.