April 21, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Freshman Adrienne Monka (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) has been named the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week, making her the second Wildcat this season to earn the award.
Monka hit .765 (13-for-17) in five games, driving in 13 runs and slugging 1.706 with a .778 on-base percentage. At one point during the week, she had base hits in eight-consecutive at-bats spanning three different games, a streak that is tied for ninth longest in NCAA Division I history.
Monka began the week with a three-run homer Wednesday in an extra-inning win over No. 23 Iowa during the first game of a doubleheader. She then was a perfect 4-for-4 with a grand slam and seven RBIs in the second game versus the Hawkeyes, giving her 10 RBIs over the ranked league foe in a single day. Iowa entered the series with the third-best team ERA in the nation.
Monka continued her streak with a perfect 3-for-3 effort with a double and a home run in a non-conference win Thursday at Loyola (Chicago). Then, after going 2-for-3 in the first game of a double-dip at Purdue Saturday, she hit home runs in her first two at-bats in the second game against the Boilermakers en route to a 3-for-4 performance.
Monka now has a team-best 15 home runs, breaking the NU freshman record of 14 set in 2006 by Tammy Williams (Roscoe, Mo./Osceola) and matched by Nicole Pauly (Palatine, Ill./Palatine) in 2007. Monka also raised her season batting average from .329 to .404 over the course of the week.
Williams previously swept both national POW awards on March 10 after Northwestern earned three wins over top-8 foes at The Preview presented by Worth. Monka is the third freshman to win the Louisville Slugger/NFCA honor this year, and Northwestern joins Stanford as the only program to have won it twice.
SCHEDULE NOTE: Northwestern's Tuesday game at Notre Dame has been canceled due to inclement weather. No make up date has been set.