UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A pair of Penn State Women’s Volleyball players earned awards from the Big Ten on Monday. Gillian Grimes was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Week, while Izzy Starck was selected as the Setter of the Week.
The fourth-ranked Nittany Lions picked up the honors after posting wins over No. 8 Purdue and Washington at Rec Hall to improve to 27-2 overall and 17-1 in the Big Ten. They improved to a perfect 15-0 at home this season.
Grimes was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career. The junior libero averaged 5.29 digs/set and chipped in with 1.43 assists/set over the two victories last week. She racked up an impressive 20 digs in just three sets in the Nittany Lions' sweep of nationally-ranked Purdue on Thursday, helping hold the Boilermakers to .142 hitting. She then added 17 digs and contributed an ace in a 3-1 win over Washington on Sunday, helping hold the Huskies to .124 hitting. She tallied five assists in both matches.
Starck is now a four-time Big Ten Setter of the Week in addition to her six Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors she won so far this season. She averaged 11.29 assists, 2.71 digs, 1.29 blocks, and 1.29 kills per set in the two wins. Starck racked up 38 assists, 10 digs, five blocks, and three kills against Purdue. It was her 12th double-double of the season. She followed that with 41 assists, nine digs, four blocks, and six kills against Washington.
Penn State returns to action Wednesday when it travels to play Rutgers at 7 p.m. The Nittany Lions close the regular season against No. 2 Nebraska on Friday at Rec Hall.