ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Illinois State junior opposite Ruth Ziegler has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week for the opening week of MVC play, announced by the conference office on Monday afternoon.
Named to the Seton Hall Tournament All-Tournament Team, Ziegler is one of two players in the MVC to rank inside of the top-10 in both hitting percentage (third) and kills per set (ninth). She is a strong part of the Redbird offense that leads the MVC in hitting percentage after the first week of the season, including back-to-back matches hitting over .300 to close the Seton Hall Tournament (Illinois State had two of the three matches during the week in which a team hit .300 or better).
Her three service aces against Fairleigh Dickinson are a career-high, and the first of her collegiate career, while her 12 kills in the finale are tied for the fourth-most in a three-set match in the MVC through the opening week, and her 17 points are the most in a three-set match in the conference. She is an integral part of ISU's .419 attack percentage against NJIT, which is the 24th-highest attack percentage in the country over the opening weekend of the year.
The Gurnee, Illinois, native, leads the team with 28 kills through three matches, with an attack percentage of .389 with three aces, three digs, and four blocks.
ISU returns to action on Friday, September 4 with a 3 p.m. first serve at Central Michigan.
