AU Pro Volleyball Season 4: Week 3 Draft Dots

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

• Opposite Brittany Abercrombie enters Week Three as the Gold team captain after rising to the top spot on the leaderboard in Week Two … The AU Pro Volleyball newcomer, who accumulated a league-high 1,025 points last week, authored a perfect 3-0 record in her league debut as a captain. 
• Outside hitter Bethania De La Cruz-Mejía serves as a captain for the 13th time in her Athletes Unlimited Pro Volleyball career, marking the most stints as a team leader by an athlete in any Athletes Unlimited sport … Attacker Sam Apuzzo, the 2024 AU Pro Lacrosse champion, previously shared the record with De La Cruz-Mejía with 12 career stints in the captain’s chair. 
• De La Cruz-Mejía is also serving as the Orange team captain for the fifth time in her four-year AU Pro Volleyball career. 
• Outside hitter Leketor Member-Meneh, the Blue team captain, becomes the fourth first-time captain this season in Week Three after rising from sixth on the leaderboard to the No. 3 position. 
• Outside hitter Dani Drews dons the captain’s “C” for the fifth time in her AU Pro Volleyball career after guiding a team four times last season … She holds a 4-8 record as a team leader and pilots the Purple roster this week. 
• De La Cruz-Mejía drafted libero Manami Kojima for a third consecutive week … The duo will also be rejoined by setter Natalia Valentin-Anderson for the second week in a row. 
• Outside hitter Madi Kingdon Rishel was taken in the first round for the third straight week, going to Team Member-Meneh with the No. 2 overall choice … She was selected third overall in the Week One draft before going first last week. 
• Middle blocker Molly McCage was the No. 4 selection in the Week Three draft, marking the sixth time she has been picked in the first round during her AU Pro Volleyball career … It is also the fourth time in the last five weekly drafts she has been taken off the board in the opening four picks, including the second time this season. 
• Outside hitter Claire Hoffman climbed up the draft board 16 spots in Week Three after going to Team De La Cruz-Mejía with the No. 3 overall selection on Tuesday. 
• Middle blocker Jenna Rosenthal saw the biggest drop in draft position, plummeting 24 places to No. 36 … She was taken in the first five rounds in each of the first two drafts this season. 
• Outside hitter Temi Thomas-Ailara also improved her draft stock with the No. 13 overall selection … It is a 21-spot improvement from last week, which is the largest positive move this season. 
• Opposite Brittany Abercrombie and outside hitter Paige Briggs-Romine enter Week Three as the only players in the league with an undefeated record after fashioning back-to-back 3-0 records … However, the duo is on separate teams for the first time this season with Abercrombie piloting the Gold squad and Briggs-Romine joining Team Member-Meneh. 
• Sydney Hilley was the first setter taken off the board with the No. 8 pick … The former Wisconsin standout teams up with outside hitter Dani Drews for the second straight week.
• Outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller was taken No. 1 overall for the first time in her AU Pro Volleyball career … It is the fifth time she has been picked in the first round, including the second instance this year after going as the No. 2 pick last week. 
• Opposite Willow Johnson improved 15 spots on the leaderboard in Week Two and also saw a 13-spot raise on the draft board … She was taken with the No. 7 pick by Team Member-Meneh. 
• Setter Alisha Childress was taken at No. 12 by Team Abercrombie to improve 13 positions from a week ago … The draft choice marks the highest she has been taken off the draft board since Week Three last season when she was taken in the third round. 
• Setter Gabby Blossom wears a Purple jersey for the first time in her two-year AU Pro Volleyball career. 
• Setter Taylor Bruns Tegenrot will sport a Gold shirt for just the second time in her AU Pro Volleyball career … It is the first time she will appear in the Gold top since Week One in 2022. 
• Middle blocker Kayla Caffey dons a Purple top for the sixth time in her eight-week AU Pro Volleyball career … She has played for the Purple team in six of the last seven weekly segments. 
• Opposite Heydi Casanova returns to the Gold squad in Week Three, while setter Marlie Monserez joins the Blue side … The duo serves as the only players to appear in the same color for all three weeks this season. 
• Middle blocker Karis Watson will appear in a Purple jersey for the first time in her Athletes Unlimited career … She has only ever worn Gold and Blue in her two seasons prior to this week. 
• Libero Nomaris Vélez Agosto dons a Blue shirt for just the second time in her Athletes Unlimited career … She was previously part of the Blue squad during Week Four last season. 
• Outside hitter Lindsey Vander Weide appears in a Gold jersey for the fourth time in the last five weeks … Vander Weide has worn Gold five times in her career, which rank second in league history behind De La Cruz-Mejía and middle blocker Molly McCage, who have each sported the jersey six times. 
• Libero Morgan Hentz will play in a Gold shirt for just the second time in her 13-week AU Pro Volleyball tenure … The last time she donned the color came during Week Four of the 2022 campaign. 
• De La Cruz-Mejía appears in an Orange jersey for the seventh time in her illustrious AU Pro Volleyball career, which is the most of any jersey color … She has donned Gold six times with each appearance coming as a team captain.