Monday, September 08, 2008

For the second straight week to open the season, Valparaiso junior outside hitter Angie Porché (Lynwood, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) has been honored by the Horizon League as its Offensive Player of the Week.

Porché was named to the All-Tournament squad at Indiana’s adidas Classic after leading the Crusaders offensively as they finished the tournament with a 2-1 record.  She kicked off the weekend by posting ten kills and ten digs in a loss to the host Hoosiers.  The junior followed with a match-high 23 kills to go along with ten digs in Valpo’s five-set win over preseason Big East favorite Louisville, which entered the weekend listed fifth among teams also receiving votes in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 poll.

But Porché saved her most impressive performance for the weekend’s finale, as the Crusaders took down ACC foe Wake Forest in four sets.  Porché totaled 28 kills while hitting at a .357 clip in the win over the Demon Deacons, second-most in a four-set match in Crusader history and just one kill shy of her career high.

On the week, Porché tallied a league-high 61 kills on .257 hitting while also adding 28 digs.  During the match against Wake Forest, the junior moved into fifth place on Valpo’s career kills chart and now has 1,182 career terminations, just 13 shy of Lauren Moulton’s fourth-place total.  Porché currently leads the Horizon League entering this week’s action in both kills/set (5.13) and service aces/set (0.48).