INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC junior Kelsey Safranek has been named Horizon League Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week, while Butler freshman Brooke Ruffolo has earned Defensive Player of the Week honors for the period of Sept. 5 - Sept. 11.
Safranek, an outside hitter from Downers Grove, Ill., who collected 55 kills (4.2 kills per set) and 33 digs for the Flames, took conference offensive honors on the strength of her back-to-back double-double performance Saturday at the Dunn Hospitality Invitational in Evansville, Ind. In the first match of the day, Safranek had 21 kills and 12 digs in UIC’s five-set loss to host Evansville. She followed up that performance with a 28-kill, 12-dig showing in UIC’s five-set win over Southeast Missouri State. Safranek’s 28 kills were the most by a Horizon League volleyball player this season. UIC opens conference play on Wednesday night at Valparaiso.
Ruffolo, a libero from Farmington Hills, Mich., had 76 digs in helping the Bulldogs go 3-1 last week. The Butler freshman had 33 digs in the Bulldogs' four-set win over Elon Friday afternoon. The 33 digs tied for the most by a Horizon League volleyball player this season. She also had 19 digs in Butler’s three-set win over Austin Peay on Friday night. Her performance in the two matches led her to being named to the All-Tournament team at the Butler Invitational. Ruffolo and her Butler teammates open conference play this weekend when they host Cleveland State on Friday and Youngstown State on Saturday.
Other Top Performers for the Week:
Amy Grabiec, Cleveland State (Sr., L) - Grabiec averaged 4.8 digs per set last week as the Vikings went 2-2. She was named MVP of the CSU Invitational after totaling 54 digs in three matches to help her move into fourth place on the all-time digs list at Cleveland State.
Kelly Kyle, Butler (Fr., OH) - Kyle was named to the All-Tournament team at the Butler Invitational last weekend. She had 54 kills and 33 digs for the week, averaging 4.15 kills and 2.54 digs per set. Her best performance of the weekend was a 19-kill, 10-dig, 4-block game against Elon.
Rachel Neuberger, Milwaukee (So., MB) - Neuberger had 50 kills and 15 blocks last week as the Panthers went 2-2. She was named to the All-Tournament team at the Milwaukee Invitational after helping lead the Panthers to a 2-1 finish. Her best performance of the week was a 16-kill, .481 hitting percentage night against Southern Mississippi.
Mary Kate Styler, Loyola (Fr., OH) - Styler averaged 3.91 kills per set, while hitting .316 as Loyola went 2-1 last week. She had season-highs in kills (18) and blocks (4) in Loyola’s five-set win over Oakland.
