Volleyball Newsletter (9/17/14)

NAPERVILLE, Ill. – Elmhurst’s Sam Szarmach and North Central’s Laura Kluk were named the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Volleyball Players of the Week Tuesday.

Szarmach, a senior outside hitter from St. Charles, Illinois and St. Charles East High School (International Business major), totaled 88 kills and averaged 4.19 kills per set while helping the 15th-ranked Bluejays to a perfect 6-0 record last week. Szarmach hit .339 for the week and reached double figures in kills every match. Last Tuesday, she totaled 10 kills and 12 digs in a sweep of Dominican and followed with a career-high 23 kills to go with 15 blocks and two aces in the Bluejays' five-set win over 21st-ranked UW-Whitewater. At the Carthage tournament, she totaled 17 kills and nine digs in a four-set win over Edgewood and 10 kills and seven digs in a sweep of UW-Eau Claire. On Saturday, she totaled 11 kills and 11 digs in a win over UW-La Crosse and closed out the tournament with a 17-kill, seven-dig performance in a three-set victory over St. Norbert.

Kluk, a junior setter from Palatine, Illinois and Palatine High School (Exercise Science), was named to the all-tournament team at Aurora University’s Jim Coleman Classic held September 12-13. She totaled 133 set assists (8.31 per set) and averaged 3.31 digs for the 3-2 Cardinals. Kluk had 36 assists and 26 digs in a 3-1 win over Loras on September 9. She also had 26 set assists apiece in sweeps against Franklin and Illinois Institute of Technology on September 12 and 13 respectively.

2014 CCIW Volleyball Players of the Week

Offense
Sam Szarmach – Elmhurst (9/16/14)
Sam Szarmach – Elmhurst (9/9/14)
Audrey Krajec – Millikin (9/2/14)

Setter/Libero/Defense
Laura Kluk – North Central (9/16/14)
Karen Chin – Carthage (9/9/14)
Emily Mihalkanin – Millikin (9/2/14)

Twitter: @CCIW_Athletics

The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services eight member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2013-14 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,400 academic all-conference recipients, 14 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients and 87 all-Americans.