Nicely Named HCAC's Volleyball Player of the Week

GREENWOOD, Ind – Just two days after leading Defiance to the 2008 DC Invitational championship and being named as the Most Valuable Player of the eight-team tournament, Kristin Nicely has been selected as the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week.

Nicely garnered the weekly honor after posting a blistering hitting percentage of .323 and leading all DC players with 3.86 kills and 0.86 blocks per set en route to recording 81 kills, 18 blocks and 35 digs on the week.

Those numbers climbed even higher during Nicely's four matches in the DC Invitational, as the freshman hitter smacked 4.06 kills and 1.00 blocks per set. Nicely also torched the opposition with a .346 hitting percentage in the first four home matches of her young career.

Nicely collected double-digit kills in all five matches of the week, topped the 15-kill plateau in three and set a new career high with her 22-kill performance in Defiance's four-set victory over Albion to clinch the DC Invitational championship.

The tournament championship was the second in as many weekends for the Yellow Jackets, who have now won seven of their last nine matches. Nicely has averaged nearly 14 kills per match during that span and has earned a spot on two all-tournament teams. The local Ayersville High standout has 148 kills and 35 total blocks through 13 contests this season.

Nicely and the Jackets (8-5) will look to continue their strong play this Friday when they play a pair of matches at Hiram. Defiance will play Wooster at 6:30 pm, before going up against Hiram at 8:30 pm.