Sylvester snags Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honors

HONOLULU – Host a block party, reap the rewards after.

University of Hawai’i middle blocker Miliana Sylvester was named the Old Trapper Mountain West Women’s Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week on Monday morning after posting 22 total blocks, including nine solo stuffs, over the weekend’s two-match sweep at Wyoming.

The junior recorded her first career double-double in Thursday’s five-set thriller against the Cowgirls, punching down 11 kills while setting a new career high with 13 blocks (five solo) in the victory. It was the best blocking performance in the Mountain West so far this year, surpassing UNLV’s Jada Miller’s 10-block performance from October 10 at Grand Canyon.

She followed it up on Saturday evening with nine kills and a team-high nine blocks (four solo) as Hawai’i handled business in four frames to remain unbeaten in Mountain West play.

It’s the first conference Defensive Player of the Week award that Sylvester has earned in her career. The junior was named the Big West’s Freshman of the Week twice in 2024, putting together 29 kills and 12 blocks over three wins to earn the first of the two awards and 30 kills over two matches to receive the same recognition two weeks later.

She’s the first Rainbow Wahine player to be named Defensive Player of the Week this season and joined Panna Ratkai (Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 7) and Adrianna Arquette (Offensive Player of the Week, Sept. 21) as the third different UH player to receive conference recognition across the first half of the campaign.

Hawai’i (16-3, 8-0 Mountain West) returns home this weekend for a two-match series against UNLV (8-11, 4-4 Mountain West). The Lady Rebels enter the week riding a two-game win streak, the second-longest active streak in the conference behind the Rainbow Wahine’s eight straight victories.