West Division Offensive Player of the Week
Natalie Risi, Outside Hitter, Ball State
Senior outside Natalie Risi led the Ball State attack with 24 kills and a 3.43 kills-per-set average in a two-match weekend sweep of Eastern Michigan. She scored 12 kills in each match, while hitting .476 (12-2-21) in Saturday's sweep and .257 (12-3-35) in Friday's four-set win. She finished the weekend ranked 9th in the MAC with a .339 (24-5-56) attack percentage. Risi, who also averaged 2.71 digs per set, collected her seventh double-double of the season in Friday's win, collecting 14 digs to go along with her 12 kills.
West Division Defensive Player of the Week
Sammi Lockwood, Middle Blocker, Northern Illinois
Sammi Lockwood (Cary, Ill./Prairie Ridge) reached 5+ blocks in each of NIU's matches this past week. The MB, stout at the net, forced opponents to game plan around her defensive prowess at the net. She started the week with five blocks versus Western Michigan in the team's 3-2 triumph before posting back-to-back six-block performances versus Buffalo this past weekend. In total, Lockwood racked up 17 blocks (1.55/set) to pace the Huskies.
West Division Setter of the Week
Ella Mihacevich, Setter, Northern Illinois
Ella Mihacevich (Brunswick, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) broke her career high in assists (55) and digs (17) versus Western Michigan this past Tuesday in NIU's five-set win over the Broncos. At the end of the three-match week, Mihacevich posted a grand total of 116 assists (10.55/set) and 40 digs (3.64/set) to help NIU log key kills.
East Division Offensive Player of the Week
Petra Indrova, Outside Hitter, Bowling Green
Bowling Green senior Petra Indrova paced the Falcons on the attack in the weekend sweep over Ohio. Indrova began the weekend with a team-high 12 kills in Friday's match (Sept. 30). Indrova had just one attack error on 25 attempts for a season-best .440 hitting percentage. She filled out the stat sheet with seven digs and two block assists as well. As for Saturday (Oct. 1), Indrova once again led BGSU in kills, this time with 13, while having just two attack errors. She added a season-high four aces to her stat line as well as six digs and three block assists to complete the weekend sweep and move the Falcons to 4-0 in MAC play.
East Division Defensive Player of the Week
Jessica Andrews, Middle Blocker, Bowling Green
Bowling Green freshman middle blocker Jessica Andrews continued to be a force at the net for the Falcons as BGSU completed the weekend sweep against Ohio. Andrews began the weekend with seven total blocks on Friday (Sept. 30) with one solo and six block assists. She repeated the effort, with a little more, on Saturday (Oct. 1) with another solo and seven block assists. Andrews added four kills, two digs and an assist to her stat line on Saturday as well.
East Division Setter of the Week
Mandy Leigh, Setter, Buffalo
Sophomore Mandy Leigh had another outstanding weekend for the Bulls. Over the course of three matches, the Bulls went 2-1 with victories over Akron and NIU. Leigh averaged 11.33 assists per set helping the Bulls to a hitting percentage of .227. At Akron, Leigh had 35 assists in three sets where the team finished with an overall hitting percentage of .376. On Saturday against NIU, she helped the Bulls get 22 kills in just the first set. She finished with 44 assists in three sets against the Huskies. She finished the weekend with 102 assists, five kills, eight total blocks, and 34 digs.
