Lauren Budde Named AVCA National Player of the Week
St. Louis, Mo., October, 13, 2009 – Sophomore middle hitter Lauren Budde of the No. 5 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team has been named the Sports Imports/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III National Player of the Week, as announced Tuesday by the association.
It is the first time in her career that Budde earns National Player of the Week honors. She is the first Washington University student-athlete to receive the accolade this season, and the 23rd in school history.
Budde helped lead Washington University to a 3-0 record at the Washington University Invitational, held Friday-Saturday, Oct. 9-10, in St. Louis, Mo. The Bears defeated Elmhurst College, 3-1, and Central College (Iowa), 3-0, on Friday night, and swept the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse on Saturday.
Budde had an impact for the Bears both offensively and defensively over the weekend. She led the team in kills with 42, an average of 4.20 per set, and was second in attacking percentage with a mark of .411. Budde also finished second on the team in digs (49) and in total blocks (10), recording a double-double in all three contests.
In the 3-1 win over Elmhurst, Budde hit .441 while recording 17 kills, her highest total of the weekend. She also tallied 15 digs and three total blocks in that win. Budde’s other dominating performance of the week came in the sweep of UW-La Crosse, when she converted 14 of her 25 attacks for kills, hitting an impressive .520, and also leading the Bears in digs (16) in the process.
For the season, Budde ranks third at Washington University in kills (214), second in digs (255) and first in total blocks with 66, an average of 0.94 per set. She has started at middle hitter in all 21 matches, and is one of just two student-athletes to be on the court for all 70 of the Bears’ sets this year.
Washington U. (18-3) returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 17, when it heads to New York, N.Y., to compete in the second University Athletic Association (UAA) round robin of the season. The Bears will face their top conference rival in defending NCAA Division III champion and third-ranked Emory University at 10:30 a.m., and New York University at 3 p.m. (ET).