EVANSTON, Ill. -- For the second consecutive week and the third time in four weeks, a member of the Northwestern Wildcats was selected as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, the conference announced Monday. This time it was Symone Abbott claiming the second weekly award of her young tenure in Evanston.
The Northville, Mich. native earned her second honor, one she shares this week with Brandi Donnelly of Illinois, after tallying double-digit kills against No. 6 Wisconsin and No. 18 Minnesota, while leading the `Cats with 5.66 kills per set in the two matches. That number ranked second among all Big Ten players last week, freshman or otherwise.
In a match against Wisconsin on Oct. 1, Abbott paced NU with 13 kills and just two errors, hitting at a clip of .458. That marked the third time in the young freshman's career that she's eclipsed .450 in a match. In the final frame against the Badgers, Abbott had seven kills, including three that fought off match points.
In Northwestern's three-set sweep of 18th-ranked Minnesota on Sunday, Abbott built on her huge offensive performance and set a career high with 21 kills, besting her previous mark by four. Abbott's final kill finished off the Golden Gophers and completed the sweep for the `Cats, who improved to 3-1 in conference play Sunday.
In four Big Ten matches this season, the newcomer is averaging a team-high 4.29 kills per set and hitting at a clip of .316. Abbott ranks seventh in the Big Ten, and first among freshman, with 3.51 kills per set.
Abbott's first award came on Sept. 15 after she posted double-digit kills in all three matches and hit .316 during the Wildcat Classic. NU freshman setter Taylor Tashima took the honor a week ago on Sept. 29.
Abbott and the rest of the Wildcats hit the road this week to challenge perennial powerhouse Penn State on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The match will be televised live on the Big Ten Network with Mike Wolf and Liz Tortorello-Nelson on the call.
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