Courtney Thomas named Big Ten Player of the Week
December 01, 2014 | Volleyball
Dec. 1, 2014
MADISON, Wis. - After leading the second-ranked Wisconsin volleyball team to the 2014 Big Ten Conference Championship, senior Courtney Thomas has been named the Big Ten Player of the Week, the conference office announced today. It is the right-side hitter's second player of the week honor of the season and of her career.
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The Badgers won the Big Ten title with two wins last week. Wisconsin clinched a share of the championship with a 3-1 win at Rutgers on Nov. 26 before sweeping Purdue on Nov. 28 for the outright crown.
The 6-0 Thomas was the Badgers' kill leader in both matches last week. She had a career-high 21 kills at Rutgers while hitting .559. She also added six digs, two blocks and one ace against the Scarlet Knights. Against Purdue, Thomas had 12 kills and picked up her eighth double-double of the season with 10 digs. On the week, she averaged 4.71 kills per set while hitting .406. Thomas also added 2.29 digs, 0.43 blocks, 0.71 assists and 0.14 service aces per set.
The Badgers (28-2) earned their highest NCAA Tournament seed in program history as they were selected as the No. 4 seed overall and the top seed in the Louisville Regional on Sunday.
Wisconsin hosts first and second-round matches on Thursday-Friday in the UW Field House. Marquette (24-8) and Illinois State (26-5) play the opening match on Thursday at 5 p.m. while Wisconsin takes on Western Michigan (22-13) in the second match at 7:30 p.m. Winners advance to the second-round match on Friday at 7 p.m. The second-round winner advances to the Louisville Regional on Dec. 12-13.
