ST. LOUIS – Illinois State's Courtney Pence and Stef Jankiewicz were recognized as two of the Missouri Valley Conference's weekly volleyball award winners, the league announced Monday. Pence was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week, while Jankiewicz was selected as the MVC Freshman of the Week.
Pence and Jankiewicz helped Illinois State (8-7, 1-1 MVC) split a pair of Missouri Valley Conference matches over the weekend. Illinois State lost a five-set match to Missouri State on Friday before bouncing back with a sweep of Southern Illinois on Saturday.
Pence, a junior libero from Springfield, Illinois, continued her run of stellar play by averaging 7.38 digs per set over the weekend to solidify her ranking as one of the nation's leaders in digs. Pence tallied 36 digs against Missouri State on Friday, marking the fourth-highest single-match dig total in Redbird Arena history. She registered 23 digs in a sweep of Southern Illinois Saturday night. Pence currently ranks second in NCAA Division I both digs (356) and digs per set (6.36).
Jankiewicz, a freshman setter from Farmington Hills, Michigan, continued to direct Illinois State's offense over the weekend as she averaged 11.12 assists per set. Jankiewicz also contributed 29 digs (3.62 per set), two kills and two blocks over the two-match stretch. Against Missouri State, Jankiewicz dished out a match-high 55 assists while setting a career high with 21 digs. She currently ranks fourth in the Valley, averaging 10.34 assists per set.
Pence, Jankiewicz and the Illinois State volleyball team are back in action Monday night at Evansville at 7 p.m. Links for live stats and video from the match are available at GoRedbirds.com. Fans can also follow @RedbirdVB on Twitter for live updates and more.
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