Monday, November 13, 2006

Junior middle blocker Nicole Schulz (Kewaskum, Wis./Kettle Moraine Lutheran) has been named by the Mid-Continent Conference as its Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week after registering the second-best hitting percentage in a single match in Valpo history last weekend.

Schulz took full advantage of her 15 attack attempts against Chicago State on Friday night, putting 13 of them down for kills while not committing any attack errors. Her hitting percentage of .867 for the match was the best single-match effort in the Mid-Con this season and trails only Cyndi Norman's .917 clip at Western Illinois in 2000.

Schulz continued her hot play of late Saturday night at IUPUI, leading the Crusaders with 17 kills as Valpo clinched a tie for second place in the Mid-Con with a sweep of the Jaguars. With the effort, Schulz increased her season hitting percentage to .338, on pace to break the Valpo single-season record by 27 points. She also stands as the only Mid-Con athlete among the league's top-five in kills/game, blocks/game, and hitting percentage.