Juniata's Amber Thomas Earns National Honor

HUNTINGDON, Pa. - Amber Thomas (Ephrata, Pa./Conestoga Valley), a junior outside hitter for then-No. 2 Juniata, has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division III National Player of the Week.

She earned the award for her strong performance at the Teri Clemens Invitational at Washington University in St. Louis last weekend, while helping lead the Eagles to wins over three nationally-ranked opponents. In the match against host and then-No. 4 Wash U., Thomas scored her first of three double-doubles on the weekend, garnering 24 kills and 11 digs in the 3-2 win. She followed that up with 17 kills and 11 digs with a .405 hitting percentage in the sweep of then-No. 3 Wisconsin-Whitewater.  Thomas then closed out the tournament with 24 kills, 16 digs and three total blocks in the 3-1 win over then-No. 14 La Verne.

For the week, Thomas averaged 5.4 kills, 7.6 digs and 5.7 points per game, while hitting .292.

Thomas' honor marks 12th time an athlete from Juniata has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division III National Player of the Week. Katie Laucks was the last Eagles player to earn the award back on October 24, 2005. Juniata is coached by Larry Bock.