INDIANAPOLIS -- Cleveland State junior Marie Frease has been named Horizon League Volleyball Offensive Player of the Week and Valparaiso junior Taylor Root has been named Defensive Player of the Week for the period of Nov. 8 - Nov. 13.

Frease, a middle hitter from Massillon, Ohio, had a hitting percentage of .510 last week as the Vikings improved to 13-3 in conference play. In Friday’s three-set win over Loyola, Frease had a career-high 15 kills, hitting .609 while only committing two errors in 21 attempts. She had a match-high 13 kills the next day against Green Bay. In League matches, Frease led the conference with a .330 hitting percentage (142-43-300).

The Vikings finished the regular season second in the Horizon League and received a bye into the semifinals in this week’s conference tournament. The Vikings will face the highest remaining seed out of the quarterfinals on Saturday at 6 p.m. (ET).

Root, a libero from Jenison, Mich., became the conference’s career digs leader this past week, surpassing Lauren Felsing (1,929; Milwaukee, 2006-09). She became the League leader during her 26-dig effort against Chicago State. Root added 25 more digs on Friday against Milwaukee and now has 1,958 digs for her career and still has one full season left of eligibility.

Valparaiso is the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and opens the championships on Friday in the quarterfinals against fifth-seed UIC at 5:30 (ET).

Other Top Performers for the Week:
Maureen Bamiro, Butler (Sr., MB) - Bamiro had 16 kills and hit .393 in Friday’s four-set win over Wright State as the Bulldogs clinched the No. 3 seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

Elizabeth Egerer, Milwaukee (Jr., OH) - Egerer had 32 kills last week as Milwaukee finished the conference regular season undefeated for the first time in team history.

Missy Hundelt, Youngstown State (So., OH) - Hundelt had 30 kills last week as the Penguins split a pair of matches. She had 20 kills, 10 digs and four blocks in YSU’s season-ending four-set win over Loyola.

Tags: Cleveland State - Volleyball · Valparaiso - Volleyball