Calvin University sophomore Sarah Bradley has been named the AVCA Division III National Player of the Week for women’s volleyball, the headline act of a week in which the outside hitter powered the 12th-ranked Knights past the two teams tied with them at the top of the MIAA.
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The award also closes a five-year gap for the program. Bradley is the first Calvin player to take home the national honor since Heidi Westra won it in 2021 — and she did it as a sophomore, in the two biggest conference matches on the Knights’ schedule so far.
Start with the rivalry. Against Hope College on October 21, Bradley erupted for a career-high 25 kills and added 15 digs as Calvin beat the Flying Dutch 3-1. She then backed it up with 21 kills and a career-high 18 digs in a 3-1 win over Albion College. The context is what makes the stat line national: Hope and Albion both came into the week unbeaten in league play and tied with Calvin for first place in the MIAA standings. The Knights came out of it 18-2 overall and 5-0 in the league — alone at the top.
Across the two matches, Bradley averaged 5.75 kills and 4.13 digs per set while hitting .347 on the attack. That is the part of the line that travels: not just terminal offense, but two-way production from the left side, delivered efficiently against the two best teams in the conference. On the season, she is averaging 3.95 kills per set, which ranks 21st in all of NCAA Division III.
The national award is the crest of a fast climb. On Monday, Bradley was named the MIAA Player of the Week for the second time this season. As a freshman last fall, she was named the AVCA Region Freshman of the Year. Region freshman honors one year, national player of the week the next — the trajectory is not subtle.
Next up, Calvin returns to action Thursday, October 29, at the University of Olivet, then travels to Case Western Reserve University for a three-match weekend: Heidelberg on Friday at 7 p.m., William Smith on Saturday at 1 p.m., and host Case Western Reserve on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Knights now hold the MIAA lead outright, and every opponent left on the schedule gets the version of Calvin that just produced a national honoree.
The 247 Take — National player of the week awards usually chase the loudest stat line in the country. Bradley earned hers the hard way: 46 kills across two matches that effectively decided first place, against the two teams that wanted it most. Calvin waited five years for one of its own to win this again, and the player who ended the drought is a sophomore — which means the rest of the MIAA has a recurring problem.
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Sources: Calvin University Athletics (the AVCA Division III National Player of the Week honor and the first for a Calvin player since Heidi Westra in 2021; the 3-1 wins over Hope and Albion and the 18-2 overall and 5-0 MIAA marks; the career-high 25 kills and 15 digs against Hope and the 21 kills and career-high 18 digs against Albion; the week averages of 5.75 kills and 4.13 digs per set and the .347 hitting mark; her No. 21 NCAA Division III ranking at 3.95 kills per set; the second MIAA Player of the Week award and last fall’s AVCA Region Freshman of the Year honor; the upcoming matches at the University of Olivet and the Case Western Reserve weekend)
