With 20 kills and 25 digs in Illinois State's volleyball win at Indinaa State, senior Jackie Utz became the second Redbird player this season to earn State Farm/Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week honors.
She joins her teammate, senior middle blocker Kendra Haselhorst, who earned the same honor three weeks ago.
Utz, an outside hitter from Chicago, led the Redbirds to a 3-1 win at Tere Haute by netting Illinois State's first "20-20" match (20 or more kills, 20 or more digs) since Michelle Kutcher did that in 1997. Alos, her 25 digs were the most in a match by a Redbird player since Patti Hoppa collected 26 in a match in 1996.
Illinois Stat's leader in digs with 3.5 per game this season, Utz had a total of 31 digs and 24 kills in six games played during the week, averaging 5.3 digs and 4.0 kills while hitting .403.
The Redbirds, 7-4 overall, 4-1 in the Valley, play at Southwest Missouri State on Friday and at Wichita State on Saturday before coming home for four straight matches beginning with No. 20 Notre Dame at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Redbird Arena.
