INDIANAPOLIS -- Cleveland State teammates Kara Koch and Amy Grabiec have been named Horizon League Volleyball Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week for the period of Oct. 31 - Nov. 7 after both players set school-records last week.
Koch, an outside hitter from West Salem, Ohio, set a school record with 35 kills in the Vikings’ come-from-behind win over UIC. Koch’s 35 kills against the Flames Friday night marked the most in a match by a CSU player since 1996 when Tenille Whiteside recorded 33 against Syracuse. The junior’s 35 kills were almost the most by a Horizon League player this season. Koch was just as dominant the next day posting 22 kills in CSU’s four-set win over Valparaiso. The 22 kills tied for the third-most by a Horizon League player this season and also pushed Koch over 1,000 career kills, the 14th Viking to accomplish the feat. Overall, Koch had 57 kills, a hitting percentage of .349 and also contributed 27 digs, scoring a double-double in both of Cleveland State’s matches last week.
Grabiec, a libero from Cleveland, Ohio, also set a school record in the match against the Flames with 39 digs. It was the most by a Horizon League player this season and the most by a Cleveland State player since 1987 when Elisa Caraulia tallied 37 against Kent State. Grabiec added 15 more digs to her totals on Saturday against Valparaiso which moved her into second place on the CSU all-time career digs list with 1,418.
Cleveland State (18-7, 11-3) wraps up regular season play this weekend when it hosts Loyola on Friday at 7 p.m. ET and Green Bay on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.
Other Top Performers for the Week:
Brittany Groth, Green Bay (Jr., L) Groth broke her own school record with 38 digs in Green Bay’s four-set loss to Wright State. She is only two digs shy of breaking the school’s single-season digs record.Missy Hundelt, Youngstown State (So., OH) Hundelt had 34 kills, four aces and four blocks this weekend as the Penguins split their matches. She had 21 kills, including the 500th of her career, in YSU’s win over UIC.
Belle Obert, Butler (Fr., OH) - Obert averaged 4.1 kills per set this week as the Bulldogs won both of their matches on the road. She had 16 kills against Green Bay and then set a career-high with 21 kills at Loyola.
Brooke Ruffolo, Butler (Fr., L) - Ruffolo had 37 digs in Butler’s five-set win over Green Bay and then had 15 digs in Butler’s four-set win over Loyola. The Bulldogs have won nine of their last 10 matches.
Kelsey Safranek, UIC (Jr., OH) - Safranek had a career-high 33 kills high last Saturday against Youngstown State. She also contributed a team-high 24 kills while also posting 15 digs against Cleveland State.
