For the second time this season, Valparaiso freshman outside hitter Allison Ketcham (Mishawaka, Ind./Marian) has earned Horizon League Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Ketcham led the way for the Crusaders in the back row last weekend as Valpo earned a pair of sweeps on the road within Horizon League play.  The rookie opened the weekend with a 14-dig effort in the Crusaders’ three-set win over Cleveland State, and followed with a team-best 21 digs in the victory at Youngstown State, matching the most digs by a Crusader in a three-set match this season.

On the weekend, Ketcham averaged a team-best 5.83 digs/set and also received 32 serves while committing just one serve reception error.  The freshman ranks ninth in the league this season with 3.46 digs/set overall, and ranks seventh in league-only action with 4.30 digs/set.  Ketcham is the highest ranking non-libero in the league both overall and in league-only play in digs.

Ketcham is the first Crusader freshman to earn multiple Player of the Week awards from the Horizon League office since Taylor Root picked up a pair of honors as a rookie in 2009.  Ketcham and the rest of the Crusaders close out the home schedule this weekend with a pair of matches at the ARC, starting with a Friday night contest at 7 p.m. against Wright State.