Tesch & Schmitting named Volleyball Players of the Week

Sept. 29, 2008

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INDIANAPOLIS -- University of Wisconsin-Green Bay senior Liesl Tesch and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee sophomore Natalie Schmitting have been named Horizon League Volleyball Players of the Week for the period of Sept. 22-28.

A native of New Berlin, Wis., Tesch earns Offensive Player of the Week accolades after pounding a Horizon League-best 37 kills during two matches last week. She also turned in a .318 attack percentage from the outside hitter position.

Tesch paced Green Bay with 39 points in a pair of league matches. The Phoenix posted a win over Valparaiso on Friday (25-18, 24-26, 22-25, 28-26, 15-7) before suffering a loss to Butler on Saturday (24-26, 25-16, 25-19, 19-25, 17-19).

Green Bay (5-8, 1-2 HL) has now won two of its last four matches after dropping six of its first nine.

A native of Neenah, Wis., Schmitting picks up Defensive Player of the Week honors after collecting a Horizon League-high 15 blocks during two conference wins last week. She also contributed 19 kills and hit .385 from the middle blocker position.

Schmitting helped first-place Milwaukee to victories over Butler on Friday (25-16, 25-21, 20-25, 25-19) and Valparaiso on Saturday (25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 25-13). She managed six blocks against the Bulldogs and a season-best nine stops vs. the Crusaders.

Milwaukee (10-4, 3-0 HL) has now won 31 straight regular-season home matches in conference play.

Green Bay hosts UIC on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET. The Phoenix and Panthers then play for state bragging rights in Green Bay on Friday at 8 p.m. ET.