After leading the Middle Tennessee volleyball team to 3-0 record last week, Maria Szivos earned the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week award as announced by the league office on Monday.

"Maria had an amazing week for us," head coach Matt Peck said. "She was super effective at the net, attacking and blocking, and her serve was really working well. She's starting to fit in our system and get used to our tempo, and she's been a great addition to our program."

Szivos, in her first season at Middle Tennessee after playing the last two years at New Orleans, hit .619 for the week with 28 kills and six service aces. The junior was especially impressive vs. Western Kentucky, tying a season high with 13 kills at a .545 clip to go along with a pair of service aces to help the Blue Raiders sweep their arch-rivals.

After hitting .833 and notching five kills in two sets against Troy, Szivos reached double figures again with 10 kills at South Alabama. She was also impeccable in the service game, recording four aces.

Monday marks the second time Szivos has won the award. Last season at New Orleans, she took home Player of the Week honors on one occasion en route to earning Second Team All-Sun Belt accolades.

Middle Tennessee (17-4, 8-0 SBC) also received votes in the AVCA Top 25 Poll on Monday, marking the fourth consecutive week that the Blue Raiders have received votes. MT is currently ranked No. 31 among all vote-getters.

Middle Tennessee will now prepare for a trip to Florida next weekend to take on defending Sun Belt regular season champion FIU and Florida Atlantic. The Blue Raiders posted wins over both schools earlier this season at Alumni Memorial Gym.