FRISCO, Texas — Lamar's Maja Malinowska and Alexa Gonzalez along with East Texas A&M's Jade Washington have earned this week's Jersey Mike's Southland Conference Volleyball Player of the Week awards, the league office announced Monday. Malinowska and Gonzalez earn recognition for the first time this season while Washington claims an honor for the second straight week. 

Offensive Player of the Week: Maja Malinowska, Lamar – So. – OH – Wloclawek, Poland (Stezyca Secondary School of Sports Championships)
Malinowska recorded 44 kills, six service aces, 42 digs and one solo block this past week. She averaged 5.5 kills and 5.2 digs per set while hitting .329 in this stretch. Against UIW, Malinowska had 24 kills, three service aces, one solo block and 24 digs. She followed that up with 20 kills, three service aces and 18 digs in the win over HCU. 

Defensive Player of the Week: Jade Washington, East Texas A&M – Fr. – DS/L – Waco, Texas (Midway High School)
Washington averaged 7.13 digs per set in eight sets last week as the Lions went 2-0. She had 23 digs in the three-set win over Nicholls and then added 34 digs against McNeese in the five-set come-from-behind win for East Texas A&M. She did not have any receiving errors and added a pair of aces as well. 

Setter of the Week: Alexa Gonzalez, Lamar – So. – S – Houston, Texas (J. Frank Dobie High School) 
Gonzalez averaged 13 assists per set in two matches, totaling 104 assists for the week along with 24 digs, four kills and one solo block. In their win over UIW, she matched a season-high 55 assists while she had 17 digs and two kills. Against HCU, Gonzalez finished with 49 assists, two kills, one solo block and seven digs.

2025 Southland Conference Volleyball Players of the Week 

Date	Offensive	Defensive	Setter
Sept. 1	Kyra McKelvey, Southeastern	Celianiz Cabranes, UTRGV	Virginia Van der Werff, A&M-Corpus Christi
Sept. 8	Katherine Holtman	India Bennett, Southeastern	Calissa Allison, UIW
Sept. 15	Tamara Chavez, Nicholls	Brooklyn Jaeger, A&M-Corpus Christi	Virginia Van der Werff, A&M-Corpus Christi
Sept. 22	Kitana Tu'ufuli, UIW	Gabby Baker, Lamar	Isabella Costantini, UTRGV
Sept. 29	Finley Evans, UIW	India Bennett, Southeastern	Peyton Fadal, HCU
Oct. 6	Izabella Ortiz, SFA	Brooklyn Jaeger, A&M-Corpus Christi	Virginia Van der Werff, A&M-Corpus Christi
Oct. 13	Nadine Zech, UTRGV	Jade Washington, East Texas A&M	Peyton Fadal, HCU
Oct. 20	Maja Malinowska, Lamar	Jade Washington, East Texas A&M	Alexa Gonzalez, Lamar

Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school's sports information director. Voting for one's own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.