For two consecutive weeks, junior volleyball player MC Brandl and senior Jesse Letts won “Athlete of the Week” by Austin Sports Journal. Players are nominated by coaches and winners are determined by community member votes.
Brandl won the first week’s nomination with a stat record of 17 kills, three aces and 20 digs in Glenn’s win over Bowie on Sept. 3. Letts alone scored in double digits in two back to back games over St. Michael’s and Eastview on Sept. 6 and Sept. 10, earning her the top pick the second week. Austin Sports Journal described the Glenn Volleyball team as one of the “biggest surprises of the season,” in large part due to Brandl and Letts’ success.
“I just felt that I had a lot of support and that more people knew me than I thought I guess?” Letts said. “Everyone was reposting and stuff like that. It just felt really good that people cared. I’m thankful for everybody that posted and voted for me, and everyone that came up to the games this year.”
Letts gained overwhelming support from GHS leading up to the voting, with friends and teammates taking to social media to spread awareness to the contest. A Twitter post asking people to vote for Letts ended up getting 256 views. Brandl won her nomination with a whopping 46.5% of the vote, edging out the Stony Point nominee by double the percentage points.
“It feels really really good, it’s definitely a positive feeling knowing that our team is good enough and represents the Austin Journal,” Brandl said. “It’s really cool to see my team succeeding as well.”
Head Volleyball Coach Kaitlyn Kluna praised both Letts and MC, proud of her players for both winning the AOTW in the same month.
“It feels amazing to have two athletes getting recognition for what they’re attributing to the team and also to the program,” Kluna said. “They’re both extremely hard workers and both of them deserve it without a doubt. It’s very nice that these athletes are getting some recognition for the performance that they’re putting forth and the efforts that they put in every day.”
Even after getting AOTW, Letts still has aspirations and goals. Finishing out her last year, she still strives to be the best she can be.
“I want to beat my own record for kills during a game,” Letts said. “That’s a big goal of mine. Honestly, I want to keep my positive attitude and have fun at the end of the day.”