LIMA - Before the season began, University of Northwestern Ohio volleyball coach Kevin Kitchen said his Lady Racers would go as far as Casey Gates takes them. Up to now, UNOH is 10-1 and Gates has pulled down three prestigious honors.

On Monday, Gates was named the first Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Player of the Week after an outstanding week when the Lady Racers went 6-0 and swept through matches at the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Labor Day Classic.

Gates, a junior who transferred from Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia, was named to the All-Tournament team at the ERAU tournament in Daytona Beach, Florida. Gates totaled 40 kills and 53 digs as UNOH went 4-0 at ERAU.

Gates also helped lead the Lady Racers to wins over Huntington University and University of Rio Grande in the UNOH home-opening doubleheader. In those two matches, Gates had 31 kills, 30 digs and 3 blocks.

She was named to the All-Tournament team at the UM-Dearborn Earlybird Invitational last weekend. Currently, Gates leads the team with 147 kills (3.59 per set), second with 151 digs (3.68 per set) and third with 14 blocks.

The Lady Racers play Friday and Saturday at the Point Park University Invitational in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Their next home match is a WHAC contest against UM-Dearborn at 7 p.m. September 19.