South Dakota’s Kritenbrink, Fort Wayne’s Ripley Earn Weekly Volleyball Honors
South Dakota’s Kritenbrink, Fort Wayne’s Ripley Earn Weekly Volleyball Honors
ELMHURST, Ill. – South Dakota's Kendall Kritenbrink and Fort Wayne's Hailie Ripley were named The Summit League's Volleyball Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week for their performances Sept. 30-Oct. 6.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kendall Kritenbrink, South Dakota
Jr. // OH // Gretna, Neb.
Kritenbrink garners her sixth career Offensive Player of the Week award and second of the season after leading the Coyotes to their second-straight undefeated (2-0) weekend in league play with a pair of 20-plus kill performances. The junior outside hitter opened the weekend with her best match, tallying 26 kills and a .442 hitting percentage in the four-set victory over North Dakota State. In Saturday's win over league rival South Dakota State, she tallied 21 kills with a .375 clip and 12 digs. For the weekend, Kritenbrink posted 47 kills, averaging 5.88 kills per set along with a .410 hitting percentage. She also added 19 digs (2.38 per set), six blocks, two assists, one service ace and averaged 6.44 points per set. The Gretna, Neb., native leads the league overall with 317 kills and 4.53 kills per set on the season. In league play alone she has a league-best 85 kills and 5.31 kills per set.
Also nominated: Nola Basey, Denver; Emily Spencer, Fort Wayne; Moriah Fair, IUPUI; Samantha Fournier, Western Illinois.
Previous honorees: 9/3 – Emily Spencer, Fort Wayne; 9/9 – Colleen King, Denver; 9/16 – Kendall Kritenbrink, South Dakota; 9/23 – Colleen King, Denver & Emily Spencer, Fort Wayne; 9/30 – Samantha Fournier, Western Illinois.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hailie Ripley, Fort Wayne
So. // MH // Waunakee, Wis.
Ripley collects her first career Defensive Player of the Week honor after nearly doubling her season blocks per set average during the week, helping Fort Wayne to a undefeated (2-0) weekend in league play. The middle hitter recorded back-to-back season-high block totals with six in the four-set victory over Omaha and seven in the win against Western Illinois. On the weekend, Ripley tallied 13 block assists, averaging 1.44 blocks per set. She also added 12 kills, one assist and one dig.
Also nominated: Kate Acker, Denver; Kelly Wachtel, IUPUI; Kaitlyn Hastings, South Dakota.
Previous honorees: 9/3 – Jen Milligan, Fort Wayne; 9/9 – Audrey Reeg, South Dakota; 9/16 – Beth Howard, IUPUI; 9/23 – Melissa Firtko, South Dakota; 9/30 – Sarah Schmid, Denver.
ABOUT THE SUMMIT LEAGUE
In its fourth decade of Division I athletics, The Summit League offers 19 championship sports and has a combined enrollment of over 120,000 at eight institutions, including three located in top 60 U.S. metro populations and two land-grant universities. Member institutions include: Denver (University of Denver), Fort Wayne (Indiana University-Purdue University-Fort Wayne), IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis), North Dakota State University, Omaha (University of Nebraska Omaha), the University of South Dakota, South Dakota State University and Western Illinois University. Previously known as the Mid-Continent Conference, The Summit League rebranded in 2007 and has since produced eight NCAA Champions, 62 All-Americans and 50 Academic All-America selections.
Follow The Summit League on Twitter @thesummitleague, @summithoops and @summitchamps
#thesummitleague
