Monday, September 01, 2008

Valparaiso junior outside hitter Angie Porché (Lynwood, Ill./Thornton Fractional South) has been named the Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week following her MVP performance at Notre Dame's Shamrock Invitational last weekend.

Porché, coming off of a 2007 campaign where she became the first Crusader to ever earn Honorable Mention All-American honors, picked up right where she left off at the end of last year, leading all players with 13 kills in Valpo's season-opening sweep of Nevada. She also picked up ten digs in the victory over the Wolf Pack.

Porché followed the next evening with a match-high 18 kills on .371 hitting in a four-set win over IPFW. The junior also posted four service aces, just one off of her career high in the category, and led the Crusaders with 15 digs as well.

But Porché saved her most impressive offensive performance for the championship match against the host Fighting Irish, leading the Crusaders to a four-set victory over Notre Dame and the Shamrock Invitational title. Porché hammered 26 kills on 58 swings versus the Irish, matching the fifth-most kills in a four-set match in Crusader volleyball history. She also tallied ten digs in the victory for her third straight double-double to open the campaign.

For the week, Porché racked up a league-high 57 kills on .290 hitting, while adding 35 digs, eight aces and four blocks. She also moved up two spots to sixth position on Valpo's all-time kills chart with 1,121 career terminations, and is just 43 kills shy of the fifth spot on the list.