Feb. 21, 2011
ST. LOUIS -
For the second-straight week, an Illinois State player has been selected as the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week. Senior Abby Olson earned the honor this week after going 7-for-12 with three doubles, two home runs and eight RBI at the Littlewood Classic in Tempe, Ariz.
"I thought Abby had a great weekend and drove the ball at opportune times," head coach Melinda Fischer said. "She came up big for us against Arizona State to give us an early lead and played very sound defense in all four games."
Olson led the Redbird offense this week, tallying 16 total bases in her 12 at bats, a slugging percentage of 1.333. The Hartsburg, Ill., native blasted a two-run homer against No. 9/12 Arizona State and later cleared the Farrington Stadium scoreboard in left center with a three-run shot against Seattle. With the two long balls this weekend, Olson now has 40 career home runs and needs just eight more to become Illinois State's all-time home run leader.
For the season, Olson is hitting .500 with three home runs and leads the Valley with 14 RBI and five doubles. Olson's 14 hits ranks second in the league behind teammate Kara Nelson, who was named the MVC Player of the Week last week, and her 1.071 slugging percentage is fourth-best in the Valley.
The Redbirds (7-2) will return to the field this weekend when they travel to Tampa, Fla., for the USF Fairfield Inn and Suites Tampa North Tournament hosted by the University of South Florida. ISU will open the tournament Friday with a pair of games against two nationally-ranked opponents in Alabama and Missouri. On Saturday, Illinois State will take on South Florida and Temple before rounding out the weekend with a Sunday morning contest with Central Connecticut State.
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