Lincoln – Nebraska middle blocker Tracy Stalls (Denver, Colo.) picked up her second weekly honor in as many weeks, as she was selected as the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week Monday afternoon.
Stalls, who was named first-team All-Big 12 earlier Monday, averaged 3.83 kills on .724 hitting and 4.25 points per game in sweeps of Baylor and Texas Tech to help the Huskers clinch their 10th Big 12 title in the past 12 seasons. Stalls hit .500 or better in both matches, highlighted by a record night in which she hit 1.000 on 13 swings in a sweep of Texas Tech. It marked the second time in Big 12 history that a player hit 1.000 with a minimum of 10 kills.
Only two players in NCAA Division I history had more kills with a perfect hitting percentage in match than Stalls’ effort. Behind Stalls’ performance, the Huskers hit .474 for the second-highest total in a Big 12 match in 2007.
Stalls compiled 10 kills on .500 hitting and a pair of blocks in a sweep at Baylor Wednesday night. She also played a key role in holding both Baylor and Texas Tech to under .100 hitting, recoding five blocks on the week.
She leads the Big 12 and ranks third nationally with a .474 hitting percentage, which would break NU’s single-season mark (.440: Virginia Stahr, 1989) and the Big 12 single-season record (.415: Nicole Wilson-Missouri, 2005).
The second-ranked Huskers are in action this weekend as they host first and second round matches at the NU Coliseum.
Iowa State’s Ashley Mass earned the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Week after averaging 5.44 digs per game in a pair of matches against ranked foes, including 30 digs in a win over No. 21 Oklahoma on Saturday.
Editor’s note: Nebraska senior captain Tracy Stalls is featured in Randy York's N-sider. Check out the four highly effective traits she uses as a leader of the Huskers’ defending national championship team.