French, Vautrin Garner NECC Weekly Accolades

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Elms College senior men’s basketball player Andre French (Torrington, Conn.) and freshman men’s volleyball player Jeff Vautrin (Chicopee, Mass.) each earned New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) weekly honors as announced by the league office on Monday.

French earned his second NECC Player of the Week award after leading Elms to a 2-0 week. French averaged 17.5 points per game including a team-high 18 points against UMass-Dartmouth on Jan. 24 and a game-best 17 points in a league win over Lesley University on Jan. 26. French also recorded seven of his nine steals for the week in the win against the Corsairs and was also a perfect 7 for 7 from the free throw line in the non-conference outing.

Vautrin was named NECC Rookie of the Week for the first time this season after helping the Blazers to a perfect 4-0 start in its season-opening tournament at SUNYIT in Utica, N.Y. Vautrin totaled a team-high 40 kills (3.33 per set) and finished weekend action with a .360 hitting percentage. The freshman outside hitter smashed a team-high 15 kills against Emerson College and was in double-digit kills in the opener against Bard College with 11 kills. Vautrin added six digs and four total blocks over the four-match stretch that began the 2013 men’s volleyball slate.