Oct. 11, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- After a pair of home victories over the weekend, a pair of Wildcats have been honored with Big Ten Player of the Week honors. Senior Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) was named the conference's Defensive Player of the Week, with Stephanie Holthus (Burlington, Ill./Central) picking up Freshman of the Week honors.
Coming off her career-best 14-block outing against 16th-ranked Minnesota Sunday, Moffett picks up the second Player of the Week honor of her career, also earning the Defensive nod on Nov. 9, 2009. Eight of her 14 blocks came in the final two sets, including sixth in the fourth as Northwestern notched a 3-1 victory over the Gophers Sunday afternoon, which moved the Wildcats into a three-way tie for first place in the Big Ten standings. She added two additional blocks in the three-set sweep of Iowa Friday night.
Moffett continues to establish herself as one of the program's all-time top blockers, moving into fourth in block assists (364) and sixth in total blocks (443) over the weekend. Moffett also ranks eighth all-time in solo blocks (79), and has also been a key factor offensively for the Wildcats. She currently sits first in program history with a career hitting percentage of .308 and is just 38 kills shy of becoming the 19th member of the Northwestern 1,000-kill club.
Holthus picked up the first Player of the Week honor of her career, sparked by her 14-kill, 13-dig performance against the Hawkeyes Friday night. It was the sixth double-double of her young career, as she also hit a career-best .480 with a service ace and a block. Against Minnesota Sunday, Holthus contributed eight kills, nine digs and four blocks in the four-set victory.
Moffett, Holthus and the Wildcats embark on a key road trip to Michigan this weekend, beginning with a first-place showdown with the 18th-ranked Wolverines at 6 p.m. CT Friday in Ann Arbor. Northwestern then heads over to East Lansing to face Michigan State in a 5:30 p.m. CT tilt Saturday evening.