Cal Poly's Jaclyn Houston and UC Davis' Renee Ibekwe opened the 2008 season with impressive performances at their respective tournaments to earn Big West Women's Volleyball Player of the Week honors, for the week ending Aug. 31. This marks Houston's third weekly award of her career, while Ibekwe earns UC Davis' first-ever player of the week accolade.

Houston (Granite Bay, Calif.) began her senior campaign with three-consecutive matches of double-digit kills and failed to hit below .429 against a trio of programs that each garnered votes in the preseason AVCA poll. Leading the Mustangs in hitting percentage with a .477 clip, she averaged just one hitting error per match. Houston, who guided Cal Poly to a 2-1 record at the Sooner Legends/Nike Invitational, also paced Cal Poly in blocks (17) and blocks per game (1.13).

Ibekwe, a senior outside hitter from Carson, Calif., led the Aggies in kills in each of their wins at the Fresno State Invitational, posting 15 against Fresno State and 16 versus Cal State Bakersfield. In the Fresno State match, she also registered a career-high 21 digs for a team-high 4.22 dig average for the week. Ibekwe’s efforts lifted UC Davis to a 2-1 week and earned her a spot on the all-tournament team.

Others nominated: Brittany Moore (CSF), Angela Hupp (CSUN), Taryn Robertson (UCI), Kelly Fink (UCR), Iris Murray (LBSU)