ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Illinois State freshman setter Ella Craggs has been named the MVC Freshman of the Week after earning the award following a weekend of matches against UIC and Valparaiso.
The Northville, Michigan, native opened her week with 42 assists and a career-high three blocks against UIC. An evening later she bettered her career-best with 55 assists, while adding a career-high 13 digs against the Valparaiso Beacons for her fourth double-double of the season.
With her back-to-back 40+ assist games, she became the first freshman since 2017 (Stef Jankiewicz) to have two consecutive MVC contests with 40+ assists. She had the fourth-most total assists of any freshman in the NCAA last week (eighth-highest assists per set) and had the 24th-highest assist total in the country - highest in the MVC - regardless of class. She also had the 45th-highest assist per set total in the NCAA, and highest in the MVC, regardless of class.
The Redbirds, now 7-9 on the season, head south for the upcoming weekend of matches, opening at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 10 in Nashville, Tennessee, against the Belmont Bruins, before coming back a day later with a battle against the Murray State Racers at 1 p.m. in Murray, Kentucky.
