Valpo's Norway, Loyola's Vizza Earn Weekly Softball Awards

INDIANAPOLIS -- Valparaiso sophomore Lindsey Norway (Chicago, Ill.) has been named the Horizon League Softball Player of the Week while Loyola freshman Kristina Vizza (Naperville, Ill.) has earned Pitcher of the Week honors.

It is the first award of the season for either, though Norway is the fifth Crusader to be honored and Vizza is the third Ramblers honoree.

Norway posted a .500/.875/.556 slash line during the week while Valpo went 3-2 at the Hatter Classic. The outfielder went 3-for-3 with a career-high three runs scored in a March 8 win over Colgate, also driving in a pair of runs. Two of those hits were doubles, and Norway also stole a base.

The sophomore also hit a two-run double and a run scored on March 9's win against Colgate. She was named to the All-Tournament team at the Hatter Classic.

Valparaiso returns to action on Wednesday against Maine at Florida Gulf Coast before facing Temple, Iowa State, Maryland and Cornell this weekend.

Vizza recorded her first career win against Western Michigan on March 9, tossing 4.0 innings of one-hit relief with three strikeouts. The freshman also took a no-decision in Loyola's win over La Salle in her first career start despite recording seven strikeouts across 4.0 one-hit innings.

During the week, Vizza allowed just a .077 batting average against during the week and posted a 1.75 ERA. For the season -- and her career -- Vizza is 1-0 with a 2.57 EAR and 15 strikeouts in 16.1 innings pitched.

Loyola will play in the Fighting Illini Invitational tournament this weekend, facing Saint Louis and Illinois on Saturday, Western Michigan on Saturday as well as to-be-decided opponents Saturday night and Sunday.

Softball Player of the Week:
Feb. 12:       Joylyn Ichiyama, Valparaiso
Feb. 19:       Dara Toman, Cleveland State
Feb. 26:       Lauren Moore, Loyola
March 5:      Brittany Duncan, Valparaiso
March 12:    Lindsey Norway, Valparaiso

Softball Pitcher of the Week:
Feb. 12:       Sierra Pico, Valparaiso
Feb. 19:      Susan Knight, Cleveland State
Feb. 26:      Brittany Gardner, Loyola
March 5:     Taylor Weissenhofer, Valparaiso
March 11:   Kristina Vizza, Loyola