Cleveland State's Kauth and Holmes Win Volleyball Weekly Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Cleveland State freshman Grace Kauth has been named Horizon League Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, while her teammate sophomore Nikki Holmes has earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for the period of Sept. 9-15.

Kauth, a freshman from Vandalia, Ohio, was named MVP of the Cincinnati Invitational after recording double-digit kills in all three matches for the Vikings. She opened the tournament by hitting .300 and tying for team-high honors with 12 kills as CSU swept host Cincinnati, 3-0. In the next match, Kauth had 13 kills and seven digs as the Vikings dispatched Navy, 3-1. In the tournament clinching match, the CSU freshman hit .375 with 14 kills as Cleveland State defeated Northern Kentucky, 3-0.

For the tournament, Kauth finished with 39 kills, an average of 3.90 per set and hit .289. She also added 26 digs.

Holmes led CSU’s defensive effort at the Cincinnati Invitational. She started the tournament with 20 digs against Cincinnati, her third 20-dig match of the season. She added 19 more in CSU’s win over Navy and finished the tournament with 16 against Northern Kentucky.

Holmes was named to the All-Tournament team after finishing the weekend with an average of 5.50 digs per set.

Cleveland State (8-2) has won seven of its last eight matches and has taken home tournament titles at its last two tournaments. The Vikings return to action this week at the James Madison Invitational.

Other Top Performers for the Week:
Amanda Baker, Oakland (So., MH) - Baker contributed 13 blocks for the Golden Grizzlies at the Shamrock Invitational, finishing with an average of 1.18 blocks per set. She also added 26 kills as she hit .246 in the tournament.
Jillian Bauer, Green Bay (So., L) - Bauer had 51 digs in GB’s two matches at Northern Iowa on Saturday. She had 26 in the Phoenix four-set loss and 25 in GB’s three-set match against the Panthers.
Jessica Dood, Oakland (Fr., RS/S) - Dood earned a spot on the All-Tournament team at the Shamrock Invitational after hitting a stellar .429 in OU’s three matches. She led the Golden Grizzlies with 29 kills in the tournament and had just five attack errors.
Justine Garcia, UIC (Sr., DS) - Garcia passed the 800-career dig mark this weekend at the Hawkeye Challenge. She compiled 16 digs in the Flames win over Drake. She led the team with six service aces over the weekend.
Taylor Golabowski, Milwaukee (Jr., L) - Golabowski averaged over five digs per set at the InnTowner Invitational, finishing with 52 for the tournament. She tallied 24 digs in UWM’s three-set win over Bowling Green.
Missy Hundelt, Youngstown State (Sr., OH) - Hundelt averaged a team-best 3.27 kills per set while adding 1.40 blocks per set. She had 11-plus kills in every match this past week and set a career-high with seven blocks against Miami (Ohio).
Kara Johnson, UIC (Fr., OH) - Johnson finished with 18 kills in the Flames win over Drake on Friday. She added 13 kills in UIC’s loss to Iowa on Saturday. She finished the weekend with 41 kills, 21 digs and seven blocks.
Julie Kolinske, Milwaukee (Jr., OH) - Kolinske was named to the All-Tournament team at the InnTowner Invitational after leading the Panthers with 41 kills. she reached double-figures in kills in all three matches. She hit .357 with 13 kills in UWM’s sweep of Bowling Green and added 15 kills in the Panthers four-set loss to 25th-ranked Wisconsin.
Miranda Puthoff, Wright State (Fr., L) - Puthoff was named to the WSU Invitational All-Tournament team after recording 65 digs in 12 sets. She had 25 digs in the win over Robert Morris and 22 digs in the victory over Indiana State. She also had 18 digs in WSU’s four-set loss to Murray State.
Heidi Splinter, Wright State (Sr., OH) - Splinter finished with 51 kills in WSU’s four matches last week. She hit .381 with eight kills and 10 digs against Butler and hit .333 with 19 kills and 11 digs in the Raiders win over Robert Morris. She had a double-double with 15 kills and 12 digs against Murray State.
Ellen Vanden Berg, Valparaiso (Sr., MH) - Vanden Berg averaged 1.64 blocks per set last weekend at the Evansville Tournament. She had seven blocks against SIU-Edwardsville and seven more against Evansville. She also added 27 kills for the Crusaders.
Kelsey Victor, Valparaiso (Jr., MH/RS) - Victor hit .383 for the Crusaders last week at the Evansville Tournament, finishing with 31 kills. She hit .474 with 11 kills in Valpo’s win over SIU-Edwardsville and had a .462 attack percentage with 14 kills in the Crusaders win over Evansville.

Horizon League Offensive Players of the Week:
Aug. 26 - Sarah Dooms, Valparaiso
Sept. 2 - Leah Van Zeeland, Green Bay
Sept. 9 - Grace Kauth, Cleveland State

Horizon League Defensive Players of the Week:
Aug. 26 - Katie Mroczenski, Green Bay
Sept. 2 - Kelsey Victor, Valparaiso      
Sept. 9 - Nikki Holmes, Cleveland State