Football’s safety Tanner Volk won the Lone Star Conference (LSC) Defensive Player of the Week award this past week, making him the third Wildcat to take home an LSC Player of the Week award. 

His performance against Texas A&M-Kingsville proved him to be worthy of the award, with a team-high 12 tackles, seven of which were solo-tackles, and 1.5 of which registered a loss in yardage for Texas A&M-Kingsville. 

“I found out through Twitter,” Volk said. “Coach Fisk texted me later, saying congrats, telling me all the hard work had paid off, stuff like that.”

To Volk, this award doesn’t belong to him alone, he sees it as a team award. 

“I told him I appreciate it, but it’s a team award really,” Volk said. “My role as a free-safety is to find room to make plays, and everyone does a good job of playing around what I do and it makes my job really easy.”

Chris Fisk, head coach of the football team, had words of affirmation regarding Volk. 

“He’s a student of the game,” Fisk said. “He’s a coach’s kid. He’s been around football his whole life. He understands what you need to do to be successful, and he goes out every day and carries that out.”

As Fisk alluded to, Volk is the son of a former football player. His father, Bill, played for Western Oregon University. Volk played under his father at Aloha High School. 

“People say ‘Oh it’s easier, your dad’s the coach’,” Volk said. “Being under his vision 24/7 taught me a lot. He’s taught me about leadership. I really appreciate everything he’s done and taught me.”

Volk said his mind is set on improving, both as a player and as a team. He said he feels that the Wildcats are ready to go the distance. 

“Getting that playoff experience last year really drove me to want to help this team win,” Volk said. “Getting those snaps as a young guy, getting to play while I learned the defense. Now I’m more acclimated … I think we can go even farther as a team than where we were last year.”

Fisk said he sees a leader in Volk, and knows that his potential as a player is high. 

“I hope to see him continue what he’s doing,” Fisk said. “He’s a great leader for our team. He’s an emotional leader. I think he’s playing well above where a guy his age should play and his growth potential for what he can do in the future is very high.”

Volk intends to live up to his current play and knows that the results will follow if the work is put in. 

“I know the standard now,” Volk said. “Rather than only preparing the right way, we need to execute too. And those awards will fall into place, and people will get the recognition they deserve. But getting the W is more important than anything.”

The Wildcats play Texas Permian Basin on Nov. 12 at Tomlinson Stadium, as they honor their seniors and hope to add to the ‘W’ column.