RUSSELLVILLE — Brae Denton was awarded the Great American Conference Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. This is the first conference honor the second-year freshman has garnered in her HSU career.

Denton posted 12 blocks against East Central on Friday and another seven on Saturday when facing Southeastern. 12 blocks was the most blocks any player has had in a single match under head coach Phil McDaniel in his five years at the helm.

“Defense has been a big focus for our team this season. We had a huge group effort in our blocking schemes this past weekend,” McDaniel said. “We hope that Brae [Denton], along with everyone else, can keep our blocking efficiency as high as it has been so far.”

The freshman from Greenbrier, Arkansas, leads the conference with 90 total blocks on the season, averaging 1.10 per set. Her efforts have aided the Reddies in leading the entire GAC with 2.55 blocks per set as a team.

Denton joins Violeta Mendoza Quintana and Makenzie Thoman as the only recipients from Henderson to be named GAC Players of the Week. Thoman was named the Defensive Player of the Week back on Sept. 20.

Henderson, with Denton and Thoman spearheading the defensive effort, takes on Oklahoma Baptist and Southern Nazarene this Friday and Saturday inside the Duke Wells Center.