Aug. 31, 2010

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - North Dakota's Devin Trefz and Courtney Halvorson have been named Great West Conference Volleyball Players of the Week after leading the Sioux to a 3-1 record last week at the North Dakota Classic. The awards were announced Tuesday by the conference office.

Trefz, a junior outside hitter from Bagley, Minn., won the offensive award after leading the Sioux with 62 kills (3.88/set) and a .268 attack percentage in four matches at the classic. In the season-opening sweep of San Jose State, the junior registered 16 kills and hit .609 (23 attacks). She also reached 16 kills in a five-set win over Gonzaga and a sweep of Cal State Bakersfield. Against the Zags, Trefz added four total blocks (three solo). In a five-set loss to Drake in the championship match, Trefz reached double figures for the fourth straight match, finishing the title tilt with 14 kills.

Halvorson won the defensive honor after making a smooth transition from defensive specialist to libero during the opening weekend of play. In the season-opening match against San Jose State, Halvorson led the team with eight digs and keyed a strong defensive effort that saw the Sioux only yield 35 total points to the Spartans (25-9, 25-12, 25-14). In the five-set win over Gonzaga, the senior from Oklee, Minn., set a career-high with 32 digs. After posting 21 digs in a sweep of Cal State Bakersfield, Halvorson added 15 digs in the championship match against Drake, giving her a weekend total of 76 digs (4.75/set).

UND's loss to Drake signified the end of two streaks--the three wins to open the tournament had pushed the defending GWC champion Sioux's school-record overall win streak to 15 games and the home court winning streak at "The Betty" reached 11 games before the setback to the Bulldogs.

Others nominated for Offensive Player of the Week were Valeria Desiderio (Chicago State), Fernanda Lima (NJIT), Kristin Kritenbrink (South Dakota) and Rita Gonzalez (Texas-Pan American).

Defensive nominees included Mysta Townsell (Chicago State), Audrey Snell (NJIT), Jill Fields (South Dakota), Ariana Bermea (Texas-Pan American), Kathleen Stevens (Utay Valley).