Schuh and Shiramizu named Volleyball Players of the Week
Horizon League awards go to Milwaukee sophomore and Wright State freshman
INDIANAPOLIS – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sophomore Kerri Schuh has been named Horizon League Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, while Wright State University freshman Stefanie Shiramizu has earned Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors for the period of Nov. 9-15.
Schuh, an outside hitter from Appleton, Wis., earns the award for the first time in her career after hitting .342 and recording 4.25 kills per set last week.
Schuh helped lift Milwaukee to a No. 3 seed for the upcoming Horizon League Championship with wins over Valparaiso University on Friday and Butler University on Saturday. She collected a career-best 22 smackdowns and hit .415 against Butler.
Shiramizu, a libero from Okemos, Mich., earns the accolade for the first time in her career after registering a League-best 7.50 digs per set last week.
Shiramizu helped Wright State close out its season with a victory over Youngstown State University on Saturday. She recorded a career-best 31 digs vs. the Penguins.
Milwaukee (13-14, 10-6), which has won eight straight matches overall, will battle the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay in a Horizon League quarterfinal on Friday at 5 p.m. ET. The Panthers will be shooting for their third tournament crown in the past four years.
Both student-athletes will become eligible for the Horizon League Network’s “People’s Choice” award, which is announced each Thursday at 3 p.m. ET. Log on to www.HorizonLeagueNetwork.tv to vote.
Other Horizon League top performers (Nov. 9-15)
Amy Grabiec, Cleveland State, Sophomore, L -- 1-0 record, 3 SP, 14 Digs
Holly Visser, Green Bay, Senior, OH -- 1-1 record, 7 SP, 26 K, 85 TA, .259 Pct, 35 Digs
Natalie Pounovich, Loyola, Sophomore, MB -- 0-2 record, 5 SP, 19 K, 39 TA, .359 Pct, 8 TB
Lauren Felsing, Milwaukee, Senior, L -- 2-0 record, 8 SP, 39 Digs
Tara Diebler, Valparaiso, Junior, MH -- 0-2 record, 8 SP, 39 K, 88 TA, .341 Pct
Laurie Shives, Youngstown State, Junior, DS -- 0-2 record, 7 SP, 36 Digs
Schuh Earns Horizon League Offensive Player Of The Week Honors
Sophomore helps Panthers to pair of victories
She had a collegiate-best 22 kills in the win over Butler Saturday and has now reached double digits in kills in nine-straight matches.
In two matches this past weekend, Schuh averaged 4.25 kills per set and hit .342. She helped lead a UWM offense that hit .265 and averaged almost 16 kills per set in two victories.
Schuh has been a big part of UWM's eight-match winning streak. In fact, over the last eight contests, she is averaging 3.56 kills per set and hitting .294. This run has helped boost her overall season numbers, which find her at 2.53 kills per set and a solid .228 hitting clip.
Schuh and the Panthers are now headed to Cleveland, Ohio for this weekend's Horizon League Tournament. Third-seeded UWM faces sixth-seeded Green Bay Friday at 5 p.m. EST/4 p.m. CST in the tournament's opening match.
FOWLER RAKES IN SECOND STRAIGHT SEC OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD
Junior Has Claimed the Honors Six Times in Her Career
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – In what is quickly becoming a weekly tradition, University of Tennessee junior outside hitter Nikki Fowler has earned her second consecutive Southeastern Conference Offensive Player of the Week award, the league office announced Monday afternoon.
The Dallas, Texas, native has now claimed the honors a conference-high three times this year and six times in her three seasons at Rocky Top, making her the second-most decorated offensive player in league history, behind only three-time SEC Player of the Year Aury Cruz from Florida who garnered offensive player of the week honors seven times during her stint in Gainesville.
Fowler has now picked up weekly accolades three times in each of the past two seasons. Only four other players in league history (Shonda Cole – South Carolina – 2006; Michelle Green – Alabama – 2000; Alexandra Oquendo – Georgia – 2004; Kristen Andre – Tennessee – 2005) have accomplished that feat once and Fowler is the only player to have done it twice. LSU’s Brittnee Cooper is the only other player to have won the weekly offensive award more than once, claiming the honors twice.
The 6-2 outside hitter helped the Lady Vols reach the 20-win mark for the second straight season, seventh time in the past 10 years and 18th time overall this past weekend as she continued her outstanding all-around play with two more stellar performances on the road at Auburn and Georgia. As she has been all season, Fowler was the team’s top offensive weapon, taking over a third of the team’s swings and recording 40 percent of its kills with an astounding total of 51 in just two matches.
She was a force all over the court as evidenced by the fact that she averaged 5.10 kills, 2.80 digs and 1.20 blocks per set while collecting her 10th and 11th consecutive double-doubles, giving her 14 this season and 32 in her career. Fowler also hit .327 with just 14 errors in 113 attacks, which is 102 points above her season average.
Against Auburn on Friday, the Dallas, Texas, native pounded out a match-high 22 kills, in addition to tallying 15 digs, four blocks and a pair of assists. She followed up that performance with arguably the best match of her career on Sunday at Georgia where she delivered a personal-best 29 kills on .362 hitting (29-8-58) and narrowly missed her second career triple-double with 13 digs and career-high tying eight blocks.
The 29 putaways stand as the ninth-highest total in a five-set match in school history (highest in 25-point scoring format), tie for the most by an SEC player in any match this season and top her previous best of 28 which she set against South Carolina on Nov. 11, 2007. She now has five matches with 20+ kills in 2009 and 14 in her career. The back-to-back 20+ kill performances mark the first time in her career that she has accomplished that feat in consecutive contests.
During her 11-match double-double streak, Fowler is averaging an incredible 4.47 kills and 3.60 digs per set, in addition to hitting at a solid .268 clip and collecting 0.95 blocks per frame. For the season, she leads the team in kills (379), kills per set (3.72), total attacks (1041), points (450.5) and points per set (4.42). She also ranks second on the squad with 335 digs and 3.28 digs per set and third with 93 blocks and 0.91 blocks per set. Fowler is also passing at a steady .959 rate with just 22 errors in 542 reception attempts.
The Orange and White will return home to close out the 2009 regular-season slate with its longest homestand of the year. The Lady Vols will first take on No. 10 Florida at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 20. A 1:30 p.m. contest against South Carolina will follow two days later, before 11th-ranked Kentucky makes the trip to Rocky Top to finish off the regular season. The UT-UK face-off is set to take place at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25.
##LADY VOL VOLLEYBALL##
WANUT CREEK, Calif. -- Commissioner Larry Scott announced today that sophomore USC middle blocker Lauren Williams has been named the Pac-10 Women’s Volleyball Player of the Week for Nov. 9-15. Williams, who hails from Houston, Texas, led the 17th-ranked Trojans to a pair of victories over ranked opponents, including an upset over No. 4 WASHINGTON. In Friday’s 3-2 win over the Huskies, Williams tallied 14 kills while hitting .364 and tying a career-high with eight blocks, including four solo blocks. This marked the third time in her career that she recorded eight blocks. In Saturday’s 3-1 victory over No. 25 WASHINGTON STATE, Williams posted a career-high 19 kills without recording an error in 34 swings for a hitting percentage of .559. She also tied a career-high with three assists and totaled a match-high 21 points. For the weekend, Williams had 33 kills while hitting .462, 11 blocks and led the Women of Troy with 41 points. In addition, she ranks seventh in the Pac-10 in hitting percentage (.346). This is the first weekly honor for Williams, and USC’s 43rd all-time Player of the Week. Also Nominated: Whitney Dosty, ARIZ; Hana Cutura, CAL;Heather Meyers, ORE; Gabi Ailes, STAN; Lainey Gera, UCLA;Kindra Carlson, WASH 2009 PAC-10 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Aug. 31 - Tiffany Owens, ARIZ; Sept. 8 - Renee Bordelon, WSU; Sept. 14 - Lauren Cook, UCLA*; Sept. 21 - Rachel Rourke, OSU; Sept. 28 - Tamari Miyashiro, WASH; Oct. 5 - Alix Klineman, STAN*; Oct. 12 -Janet Okogbaa, STAN; Oct. 19 - Sonja Newcombe, ORE*; Oct. 26 - Hana Cutura, CAL*; Nov. 2 - Kaitlin Sather, UCLA; Nov. 9 -Hana Cutura, CAL; Nov. 16 - Lauren Williams, USC -www.pac-10.org- Clemson Volleyball Player Lia Proctor Earns ACC Volleyball Player of the Week Senior is second Tiger to win award in as many weeks GREENSBORO, N.C. – Clemson senior outside hitter Lia Proctor racked up 35 kills and 19 digs in the Tigers’ two matches over the October 13-15 weekend to earn Atlantic Coast Conference Volleyball Player of the Week honors, announced today. Proctor is the third Tiger to garner the accolade this season, and second in a row after freshman middle blocker Sandra Adeleye was named last week (Nov. 9). Despite a 3-1 loss to Florida State (Nov. 13), Proctor smashed 22 kills—her fifth 20-kill match this season—against only seven errors in 51 attacks for a .294 hitting percentage. She also recorded 10 digs against the No. 15 Seminoles (American Volleyball Coaches Association) for her 12th double-double of the season, which is tied for third in the league. The Spartanburg, S.C. native had 13 kills, nine digs, and four total blocks in a 3-0 sweep of Miami (Nov. 14). Over the two-game stretch, Proctor averaged 5.00 kills per set, 2.71 digs per set, and totaled five blocks. This season, Proctor has recorded 10 or more kills 20 times, including the last five straight matches. Clemson will return to action on Friday, November 20 when it hosts Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. in Jervey Gymnasium in Clemson, S.C. The Tigers will then welcome Virginia on Saturday, November 21 for a 6 p.m. match. The ACC Volleyball Player of the Week will be announced by 5:00 p.m. each Monday during the season. More ACC volleyball information can be accessed at http://www.theacc.com/sports/ ACC Volleyball Players of the Week Date Player Cl. Pos. School Aug. 31 Monique Mead Fr. OH Georgia Tech Sept. 7 Kelsey Murphy Sr. S Clemson Sept. 14 Brittany Roderick Sr. MB Georgia Tech Sept. 21 Kellie Catanach So. S Duke Sept. 28 Rachael Moss Sr. OH Duke Oct. 5 Lane Carico So. OH Miami Oct. 12 Jordana Price Sr. MB Florida State Oct. 19 Justine Record So. OH Virginia Tech Oct. 27 Simone Asque So. OH Virginia Nov. 2 Simone Asque So. OH Virginia Nov. 9 Sandra Adeleye Fr. MB Clemson Rachael Moss Sr. OH Duke Nov. 16 Lia Proctor Sr. OH Clemson
USC VOLLEYBALL PLAYER LAUREN WILLIAMS NAMED PAC-10 VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
