Sears & Lobdell named Volleyball Players of the Week

Oct. 20, 2008

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INDIANAPOLIS -- Valparaiso University senior Allison Sears and University of Illinois at Chicago junior Lana Lobdell have been named Horizon League Volleyball Players of the Week for the period of Oct. 13-19.

A native of Elkhart, Ind., Sears earns Offensive Player of the Week honors after leading the Horizon League in hitting percentage (.500) and ranking second in kills per set (4.75) last week.

Sears helped Valparaiso to a 3-1 victory over Butler (23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-16) in its only match of the week on Friday. The middle hitter tallied a season-high 19 smackdowns and committed just three errors in 32 attempts.

Sears places fifth in the conference with 3.03 kills per set this season. Valparaiso also ranks in the nation's top five for kills per set (15.12) and assists per set (14.03).

The Crusaders, 13-6 overall and 5-4 in league play, have now won six of their last seven matches.

A native of Lena, Ill., Lobdell picks up Defensive Player of the Week accolades after ranking second in the Horizon League with 1.60 blocks per set during three matches last week.

Lobdell guided UIC to 3-0 blankings of Bradley (25-17, 25-23, 25-23) and Youngstown State (25-16, 25-18, 25-21), and a 3-1 win over Cleveland State (25-14, 25-21, 21-25, 26-24) last week. The middle hitter had at least five blocks in each match.

Lobdell leads UIC in hitting percentage (.262) and ranks second in blocks per set (0.78) this season.

The Flames, 10-12 overall and 4-6 in league play, have now won five of their last seven matches.

Valparaiso hosts IUPUI on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET), Milwaukee on Friday (8 p.m.) and Green Bay on Saturday (5 p.m.). UIC travels to Western Illinois on Tuesday (8 p.m.) and Loyola on Saturday (8 p.m.).