Women's Volleyball | 8/31/2026 3:22:00 PM

GREENSBORO – When a career is started with back-to-back double-doubles, a reward should come along with it.

That is the case for North Carolina Agriculture & Technical State University freshman setter Kirsten Kemper. The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) handed out its weekly volleyball awards for the first time this season, with Kemper being named CAA Rookie of the Week. Kemper helped the Aggies go 2-1 during their season-opening weekend at the Charlotte Invitational hosted by Charlotte at Halton Arena.

The two wins came against mid-major schools such as Appalachian State of the Sun Belt Conference and Bryant, a member of the American East conference. A&T's win over App State in Friday's 2026 season opener, marked the Aggies' first win over the Mountaineers in 10 tries. In her collegiate debut, Kemper posted 32 assists, 11 digs, two kills, one service ace and a solo block in the five-set triumph over App State.

In the win over Bryant on Saturday, she followed with another double-double, posting 27 assists, 13 digs, and an ace in A&T's four-set win over the Bulldogs. In the tournament finale against Charlotte on Sunday, she finished with 13 assists and eight digs in a three-set A&T loss. For the week, Kemper averaged 6.00 assists and 2.67 assists. She had one fault in 208 setting attempts, and she did not commit an attack error in six attempts.

"We want to congratulate Kirsten on being named Rookie of the Week," said A&T head coach Hal Clifton. "I thought she did an outstanding job in her first collegiate tournament. She put up good numbers against App State and Bryant. It's a lot of pressure to be a setter, yet alone a freshman, and I think she handled it pretty well."