May and Reiser earn Heart individual weekly honors after strong season start

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Following their best season start since 2018, the Clarke University men's volleyball team had a pair of first time winners of Heart of America Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors as senior middle blocker Tanner May earned Attacker of the Week with junior Benjamin Reiser receiving the Setter of the Week recognition.

The Pride began their season with a four-match opening week, going 3-1 after winning their first three matches of the season, starting with a five-set home win over Viterbo on Jan. 27 where May would set a new career-high for kills in a match with 17 with a .800 hitting percentage and four total blocks while Reiser topped 40 assists for just the second time in his career with 42 while adding five digs.

May, a San Diego, Calif. native, would go on to finish the four-match week with 37 kills, seven total blocks, four solo blocks and three block assists, five service aces, and a hitting percentage of .527 on 55 total attacks as he produced nine kills in a three set win over Park University Gilbert, six kills in another sweep win over Calumet College of St. Joseph, and five kills in the weekend's finale against St. Mary of the Woods College.

Reiser, a Munich, Germany native, came right back in the Park-Gilbert match to set a new three-set match career-high of 40 assists then would finish the weekend in Indiana to have 22 assists against Calumet and 28 against St. Mary of the Woods while finishing the full four-match week with 132 assists, 20 digs, six kills, three service aces, and two blocks over the 14 total sets played.

These recognitions become the first conference weekly honor for any member of the Clarke men's volleyball team since the 2022 seaosn when Stephen Lewandowski earned Heart Defender of the Week on Jan. 31, 2022, almost exactly four years to the date where May and Reiser were named.

Pride men's volleyball will be off from match action this week before hosting their first Heart Conference matchup when Grand View University visits the Kehl Center on Tuesday, Feb. 10 for a 7:00 p.m. CT scheduled first serve against the Vikings.