KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A day after being named the Erck Hotels Frontier Conference Setter of the Week for the fourth time on the year, University of Providence volleyball player Cydney Finberg-Roberts has been named the NAIA National Setter of the Week. It is the second time in her career that she has won the national award.

"I'm excited for her," head coach Arunas Duda said. "What a great recognition for all the hard work that she's put in. For her to be recognized at the national level is significant and well-deserved."

Finberg-Roberts was dominant this past weekend at the Frontier Conference Preseason Tournament. The redshirt-senior from Columbia Falls, Mont. had three games over 40 assists as she led the #10 Argos (13-2) to four straight victories on the weekend. She recorded 53 assists in the win against Rocky Mountain College, marking the third time this season she has recorded over 50 assists in a game. 

For the weekend, Finberg-Roberts recorded 162 assists, good for a whopping 11.6 assists per set. She was also active defensively, recording 38 digs and five blocks during the course of the tournament. This season, Finberg-Roberts is currently eighth in the nation in assists per set (10.9) and ninth in total assists (577).

This is the second time in her career that Finberg-Roberts has been named the National Setter of the Week. She had previously earned the recognition on Nov. 12, 2019 when she was a redshirt sophomore, after breaking a Frontier Conference record with 75 assists in a thrilling five-set win over Rocky Mountain College to win a share of the conference regular season title.

"She was third on our depth chart her freshman year," Duda said. "We recommended that she redshirt and from that point on, she's just set her sights on the highest goals. Nothing has stopped her from achieving them. All of the credit goes to her. She's in my office watching film every week, getting extra reps on the court. She's put in the time and work and it's paid off."

As great as she is on the court, Duda said her value to the team might even be greater off of it.

"She's a glue piece," Duda said. "She wants to be involved with everything. Recruits come in and she's showing them around. We've paired her up with some of our younger setters for her to mentor them. She's gladly accepted that role and is doing a really good job of that. She's a great example of what we want an Argo volleyball player to be."

The team will need her this week, as the Argos open conference play with a Top 25 showdown in Butte, Mont this weekend. The Argos will take on the #15 Montana Tech Orediggers (12-3) at 7:00 p.m. on Friday.

"She's going to be essential in knowing who to set, when to set them and in what situation so we don't trap our hitters and put them in bad situations. She's going to be one of the keys to victory for sure. It always starts with serving and passing, but gosh we couldn't ask for a better kid to get a second touch on every single play."