AU Pro Volleyball Season 4: Week 2 Draft Dots

Here is a list of notes and tidbits related to the AU Pro Volleyball Week Two draft.

• Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía begins her 12th stint as an AU Pro Volleyball team captain, which is tied for the most terms as a team leader across all Athletes Unlimited sports … Attacker Sam Apuzzo (lacrosse) piloted a squad for each of the last 12 weeks spanning three seasons, while De La Cruz-Mejía passes guard Odyssey Sims, who has led 11 teams in her three AU Pro Basketball seasons. 
• In addition, Week Two marks the sixth time that De La Cruz-Mejía stands atop the leaderboard to begin a week in her AU Pro Volleyball career … She has only worn a Gold jersey during weeks when she has been a team captain. 
• De La Cruz-Mejía boasted a 3-0 record for the fifth time as a team captain in Week One and elevated her career captain’s record to 22-11, marking the most captain’s victories in AU Pro Volleyball history … She enters Week Two with an 8-7 career record as the Gold team captain with a pair of 3-0 undefeated segments. 
• Opposite Brittany Abercrombie guides the Orange team in her first appearance as a captain during Week Two … She was the league’s No. 1 pick on the draft board to begin the season last week. 
• Middle blocker Kayla Caffey is also making her debut as a captain in Week Two, serving as the Blue team leader … She is also a member of the Blue squad for the first time in her AU Pro Volleyball career. 
• Setter Nootsara Tomkom returns to the captain’s seat as the Purple team captain in Week Two … Tomkom guided the Blue team to a 2-1 record in her captain’s debut during Week One last season … It is just the third time in her 12 career weeks that she will appear in a Purple jersey. 
• Week Two marks just the second time in AU Pro Volleyball history that all four team captains come from different position groups … The only other instance came in Week Three of the 2023 campaign when Leah Edmond (outside hitter), Morgan Hentz (libero), Sydney Hilley (setter) and Jenna Rosenthal (middle blocker) piloted squads. 
• Each of the four Week Two captains played on Team De La Cruz-Mejía during the opening segment of the 2024 AU Pro Volleyball season … It is just the second time where all four weekly captains played on the same squad during the previous week … Leah Edmond, Alli Linnehan, Morgan Hentz and Sydney Hilley all played for Team Edmond in Week One last season before guiding their own squads during the following week. 
• All four picks in the first round of the Week Two draft were outside hitters … It is the first time in AU Pro Volleyball’s four seasons that one position has swept the top four selections. 
• Outside hitter Madi Kingdon Rishel was taken in the first round for the second week in a row … She was the No. 1 pick in Week Two after being taken by Team Valentin-Anderson with the third overall choice last week. 
• Outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh moved into the first round at No. 4 after being drafted in the third round last week. 
• Opposite Kelsie Payne, the No. 7 overall draft selection in Week Two, was the biggest mover of the draft after vaulting 21 positions up the AU Pro Volleyball draft board from Week One.
• Opposite Khat Bell and outside hitter Gia Day also made sizable jumps up the draft board, rising 15 and 14 spots, respectively … Bell was taken with the No. 8 pick, while Day went with the No. 16 choice after being selected in the eighth round (30th overall) a week ago. 
• Outside hitter Dani Drews went in the first round for the second week in a row after being picked by Team Abercrombie with the third overall pick … It marks the third time she has been selected in the first round in her AU Pro Volleyball career. 
• Setter Nootsara Tomkom, libero Nomaris Vélez Agosto and outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weide will reunite as teammates in Week Two after playing together for the San Diego Mojo in the inaugural 2024 Pro Volleyball Federation season … The team also previews the trio of Vander Weide, middle blocker Kaz Brown and middle blocker M’Kaela White, who will be a part of the Orlando Valkyries’ roster in the 2025 PVF campaign. 
• Setter Gabby Blossom dons the Gold jersey for the third time in seven career AU Pro Volleyball weekly segments. 
• Setter Taylor Bruns Tegenrot sports an Orange shirt for the eighth time in her 17 career AU Pro Volleyball weeks … She matches outside hitter Erin Fairs, who has also worn the Orange top eight times, for the most weeks sporting a single color in league history. 
• Setter Sydney Hilley will compete in an Orange jersey for the first time in her two AU Pro Volleyball seasons … She has previously worn Purple four times in her seven weeks. 
• Middle blocker Molly McCage is set to wear an Orange top for the seventh time in her 17 career weeks … She was a member of the Orange unit four times in 2022 before wearing Orange twice last season. 
• Middle blocker Jenna Rosenthal returns to the Gold squad for the third time in her AU Pro Volleyball career … It is the first time she has donned a Gold shirt since Week Five during the 2022 season. 
• Outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weide joins the Purple squad for the first time after wearing a Gold jersey in each of her previous three weeks dating back to the 2023 season. 
• ● Five players will wear the same jersey for the second straight week … Setters Nootsara Tomkom and Alisha Childress and middle blocker Tori Dixon are back in Purple, while opposite Heydi Casanova remains in Gold … Setter Marlie Monserez stays on the Blue side in Week Two.