STOCKTON, Calif. – For her efforts on opening weekend, highlighted by a 27-dig performance against Gonzaga, second year libero Bella Gutierrez was named the West Coast Conference's Defensive Player of the Week on Monday afternoon – Pacific's first women's volleyball POTW honor since 2024.

Her 27-digs on Saturday not only set a new personal best for the libero, but also made her the fifth Tiger since 2017 to reach the 25-dig mark in a single match, joining Jayhlin Swain, Megan Nishimura, Jadyn Tubbs and Katrin Gotterba. Swain, the most recent of those four to do it, also got her 25+-dig match against Gonzaga, in 2024.

Gutierrez' work in the back row helped power Pacific to the four-set victory over Gonzaga, but the libero was not done. On Sunday against Southern Utah, she followed up her career outing with another 20-dig effort to aid in the comeback win over the Thunderbirds. Coupled with her ten digs in the season opener at Cal and the Manteca native is averaging 4.8 digs/set, giving her a top-40 ranking nationally (39th and second in the WCC). And at 57 total digs, she leads the conference and carries a top-25 national ranking into the week (21st).

"Bella was an anchor for our back row this weekend and played with the effort and poise of a seasoned veteran. She passed well, played incredible defense, and allowed our team to stay offensive with her out of system setting," Head Coach Jeff Hendershot said.
 
Prior to this award, Alexa Edwards was the last Tiger to bring a volleyball Player of the Week award to Stockton. As a team, Pacific is back in action this Thursday-Saturday at the SJSU Invite at San Jose State. Action kicks off against UC Riverside on Thursday with matches against SJSU and LSU New Orleans to round out the weekend.
 
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