Senior outside hitter Barbara Kovacs of the women's volleyball team has been named the Colonial Athletic Association and the Connection Newspapers/George Mason University Athlete of the Week.

This is the second time this season that she has been named the CAA's Player of the Week.

The 6-2 player from Budapest, Hungary, led #18 George Mason to two victories last week, including a five-game win over #21 Oral Roberts University.

Against ORU, Kovacs had a strong all-around performance with 21 kills. She had just four errors, 40 total attempts for a .425 hitting percentage. She also had a season high five service aces, along with 17 digs, three blocks and three assists. This was her 14th double-double (more than 10 kills and 10 digs in a match) this season.

With the 17 digs, Kovacs becomes the first player in George Mason history to go over 1,200 in both kills AND digs. She now has career totals of 1,486 kills and 1,210 digs.

Kovacs is just 67 digs away from becoming the all-time dig leader in Patriot history. She is in third place in career kills. She also has the second most kills in a match with 36 vs George Washington last season.

This season, Kovacs had a season high 30 kills at Tennessee, earning her MVP honors at the Tennessee Mazda Invitational. She was also voted to the All-Tournament team at the Gonzaga Spikeoff and has been named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week (9/22/96).

Kovacs has helped lead George Mason to its highest ranking ever at #18 in the nation. She has won a CAA title in every season as a Patriot and is helping George Mason vie for its fifth straight CAA championship.

She has been a member of the first team All-CAA for two straight years as well as being on the first team All-VaSID and first team All-District 3 (AVCA).

The International Studies major had a 3.6 grade point average last year earning her Deans list, Athletic Directors Honor Roll and CAA Scholar-Athlete.

Volleyball contact: Lisa S. McQuiggan (993-3246)