Sterling’s Lexi Rodriguez a finalist for Player of the Year

College volleyball

Sterling’s Lexi Rodriguez a finalist for Player of the Year: The recognition continues to come in as Sterling High School graduate Lexi Rodriguez is one of four finalists for the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Year. The award will be announced on Friday.

Rodriguez, a senior libero for Nebraska, was the first libero to be named AVCA Region Player of the Year last week. She is a three-time Big Ten Defensive Player and Libero of the Year and became the third player in program history to be a four-time All-American.

A four-year starter and three-year team captain, Rodriguez is No. 2 in school history in career digs with 1,882, needing just nine more to break Justine Wong-Orantes' school record of 1,890.

Rodriguez has 265 career digs in the NCAA tournament, ranking first on Nebraska’s all-time postseason digs chart.

Nebraska plays Penn State in the NCAA Final Four around 8 p.m. Thursday on ESPN. The match will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first semifinal between Pittsburgh and Louisville at 5:30 p.m.

The other three Player of the Year finalists are Pittsburgh’s Olivia Babcock, Kentucky’s Brooklyn DeLeye and Wisconsin’s Sarah Franklin.