Senior right-side hitter Camryn Carlton began her season with an impressive start, winning the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week award as the Georgia College & State University women’s volleyball team opened its season, winning three of its first four games in the annual Bobcat Classic.
Carlton opened her season with 51 kills, 13 digs and 12 blocks. Not only was Carlton honored as the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week, but she also earned honors as the Zaxby’s Player of the Week for her performance in the tournament.
Her best performance came in the Bobcats’ lone loss of the weekend, when she contributed 16 kills in the 3-1 loss to Rollins College.
“It mean’s a lot,” Carlton said. “We do preseason goals every season with Coach, and that was one of my first goals to get this season. It can only go up from here.”
The Peach Belt Conference names one Player of the Week and one Specialist of the Week every week, so achieving the award this season, so early, definitely removes some of the pressure to do so.
The help of Carlton has also most definitely helped GCSU volleyball open on the right foot, as the current 6-4 record of the Bobcats sits just two wins away from tying their win record from the previous season.
“I always want to be somebody on the team that other players can come to and other players can look up to,” Carlton said. “Not only to lead by example, but also a good friend and a good teammate to all the younger girls, and I think this year taking that on has really pushed me to be better on and off the court.”
While the Peach Belt Conference Player of the Week award is based directly on the statistics sheet to decide the current week’s winner, Carlton, a Bobcat for her previous four years, looks to step up into a leadership position for the GCSU volleyball team this season.
“One thing about Camryn is that she can change the energy on the court in a second,” said Hayley Shepherd, a graduate student middle blocker on the team. “She can give us momentum and her intensity creates that shift that we need to win the game.”
Shepherd and Carlton have been teammates for the entirety of their careers, being with each other for all the ups and downs the program has been through in the previous years.
“I’ve watched our team grow and change, and it’s been so rewarding to work through challenges and celebrate wins with the same group of girls,” said Shepherd.
In the Bobcats’ next six contests, they would split their four games at Valdosta State in the Valdosta State Tournament and split their two games in Alabama. In those six contests, Carlton tallied 48 more kills to her season ledger, as well as 21 digs and 14 blocks. Carlton tallied double-digit kills in two of those contests, including a 14-kill performance against the University of West Alabama.
Carlton currently sits at ninth in the conference for hitting percentage (.238), tenth in kills per set (2.57) and tenth in total points (133).
Georgia College & State University’s women’s volleyball season continues Tuesday, Sept. 23, with a contest against Forrest Valley State University at 6 p.m. in Fort Valley, Georgia, before returning to Milledgeville on Friday, Sept. 26, for their first conference competition against Lander University at 6 p.m.