WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Kate Borsato, a Whitman College senior from White Rock, British Columbia, has been named Northwest Conference Volleyball Player of the Week.
Borsato, a 5-foot-8 setter, directed Whitman to a pair of NWC victories last week, averaging 14 assists per game while her offense hit a combined .331 in the two three-game triumphs. In four NWC matches so far this month, Borsato is averaging 12.86 assists per game, which tops the conference.
In statistics for conference matches only, Whitman as a team leads the NWC in both hitting percentage (.256) and kills per game (16.5).
Borsato handed out 35 assists last Friday as Whitman hit a season-high .356 in a quick victory over George Fox. She also chipped in with five kills on just eight attempts with one attack error, good for a .500 hitting percentage of her own.
"Kate continues to get stronger and more confident with her setting," Whitman volleyball coach Dean Snider said after the George Fox match. "She's distributing the ball in a great random pattern, and she's finding her hitters in the right spots and creating splits in the defense."
In last Saturday’s sweep of Lewis & Clark, Borsato collected 49 assists as four of her teammates reached double digits in kills. That is the highest assist total in the NWC this season for a three-game match. She also has the most assists (59) in a five-game match this season.
Borsato, a four-year starter, made an immediate impact in the conference in her first season, earning All-NWC Honorable Mention recognition. Now in her second season as a team captain, she is Whitman’s career leader in assists with 3,082 and counting.
Earlier this month, in a season-opening tournament at the University of Puget Sound, Borsato was one of three Missionaries named to the all-tournament team. Whitman is off a 7-5 start this season, which includes a 3-1 mark in the NWC.
Borsato is a graduate of Semiahmoo High School in Surrey, B.C.