Goshen Eagle senior volleyball player Kati Thomas has been named the statewide Volleyball Player of the Week by AL.com this week.

Last week Thomas put up lofty numbers that helped her clinch the award. She finished with a total of 122 kills, 28 blocks and 20 digs in ll matches for the Goshen Eagles.

“I really loved how when I was first nominated how much support I got from my friends, family and through Facebook,” Thomas said. “I was so amazed and thankful for all the support I got.”

After being selected as the Coastal Alabama Top Performer of the week, Thomas went up against Mortimer Jordan’s Regan Welch and Cherokee’s Alexandrea Ragan.

Thomas won the award by receiving 1,790 of the 4,029 votes.

Thomas, who was up for the same award a year ago but fell short, got an overwhelming amount of support not only by members of the Goshen community but of the surrounding communities as well.

“What was amazing to me was the support she got from the community,” said Eagles head coach Amy Warrick. “We did our part by putting it on Facebook. We had people from Brantley to Troy, you name it all these communities, just get behind Kati.”

Thomas’s work ethic, hard work and drive played a major role in her being named the winner of this award.

“She has a great work ethic,” Warrick said. “She really works hard. Her parents are great supporters of her. Kati doesn’t want you to take it easy on her. She expects you to push her just as hard as you push everyone else.”

Thomas said she was humbled by the recognition.

“It really shows that if you keep working it really does pay off in the end,” Thomas said. “With all the hard work, I have really grown as a player and have gotten so much better.”

Thomas’ focus turns to helping her teammates win a state championship.

“I really plan on keeping everyone in check and to keep working hard,” Thomas said. “We want to get through area and regional and get back to state and hopefully win state.”