UIC's Yancy, Valpo's Ketcham Named Volleyball Players of the Week

INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC junior Stephenee Yancy has been named Horizon League Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, while Valparaiso freshman Allison Ketcham earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for the period of Oct. 27-Nov. 2.

Yancy led the Flames to a 1-1 road trip as she finished with 48 kills overall. She had 23 kills on 36 attempts for a stellar .583 attack percentage at Youngstown State. Her attack percentage is her third highest of the season and her fourth performance over .500 of the year. She had 25 kills on a season-high 50 attempts for a .320 attack percentage in the comeback win at Cleveland State. It’s her second highest kill output of the season and her seventh 20-plus kill performance. She had seven kills on eight attempts in the first set victory and five in the decisive fifth set. Yancy had the top-two individual kill performances in the Horizon League last week and her overall hitting percentage of .430 was also among League leaders.

In her first year with the Flames, Yancy is pacing the League in hitting percentage (.373), kills (442) and kills per set (4.42). The junior ranks 11th in the nation in total kills.

UIC (12-14, 6-5) returns home this week for two matches. The Flames host first-place Oakland (16-9, 8-2) on Friday before closing the weekend with a match versus Wright State.

Ketcham earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this season after Valpo collected two sweeps to stay alive for the regular season title. Ketcham started the weekend with 14 digs as the Crusaders swept Cleveland State and held the Vikings to a .017 hitting percentage. On Saturday, Ketcham tallied 21 digs -- matching the team’s high in a three-set match this season -- as Valpo swept Youngstown State.

Valparaiso (21-6, 7-4), which has now won 20 or more contests for 13 consecutive seasons, returns home to host Wright State on Friday before closing the weekend against Oakland.

Other Top Performers for the Week:
Jessica Dood, Oakland (So., RS) - Dood helped extend Oakland’s win streak to four matches with a game-best 12 kills on a .500 attack percentage  in the Golden Grizzlies sweep of Wright State.
Taylor Humm, Oakland (Sr., L) - Humm had 21 digs in Oakland’s sweep of Wright State. It marked the ninth time this season she surpassed
Grace Kauth, Cleveland State (So., OH) - Kauth posted a career-high 20 kills against UIC and averaged a team-high 3.38 kills per set on the weekend. The 20 kills were a single-match for the Vikings this year.
Julie Kolinske, Milwaukee (Sr., OH) - Kolinske hit .351 and finished with 18 kills in UWM’s sweep of Green Bay on Friday.
Sara Jo Sternard, UIC (Sr., MB) - Sternard set a career-high with eight blocks in the win at CSU. She also hit .390 on the weekend (28-5-59) and finished with 11 total blocks.
Nikki Thompson, Youngstown State (Jr., L) - Thompson averaged 5.29 blocks per set over seven sets for YSU last week. She had 23 digs, tied for the most at YSU in a three-set match since 2001, in the loss to Valpo on Saturday.
Kelsey Victor, Valparaiso (Sr., MH) - Victor hit .424 (19-5-34) for the Crusaders last week as they won two matches on the road. She posted eight kills and hit .385 in the sweep of CSU and turned around and had 11 kills on a .450 hitting percentage at YSU. She also averaged 1.33 blocks/set for the week.
Shannon Watson, Youngstown State (Sr., MB) - Watson had a career-best 18 kills on a .485 attack percentage in YSU’s 3-1 win over UIC. She added 11 blocks, 1.57/set, in YSU’s two matches last week.

Horizon League Offensive Players of the Week:
Aug. 25 - Julie Kolinske, Milwaukee
Sept. 1 - Nicole Johnson, UIC
Sept. 8 - Emily Campbell, Valparaiso
Sept. 15 - Stephenee Yancy, UIC
Sept. 22 - Myanna Ruiz, Milwaukee
Sept. 29 - Morgan Beil, Valparaiso
Oct. 6 - Val Jeffery, Youngstown State/Stephenee Yancy, UIC
Oct. 13 - Stephenee Yancy, UIC
Oct. 20 - Cassie Pelloni, Oakland
Oct. 27 - Stephenee Yancy, UIC

Horizon League Defensive Players of the Week:
Aug. 25 - Nikki Thompson, Youngstown State
Sept. 1 - Shannon Watson, Youngstown State
Sept. 8 - Nikki Holmes, Cleveland State   
Sept. 15 - Allison Ketcham, Valparaiso
Sept. 22 - Taylor Golabowski, Milwaukee
Sept. 29 - Maggie Hannon, Cleveland State
Oct. 6 - Nikki Thompson, Youngstown State
Oct. 13 - Jillian Bauer, Green Bay/Taylor Humm, Oakland
Oct. 20 - Aly Ryan, Youngstown State
Oct. 27 - Alison Ketcham, Valparaiso