Kate Lange Gets National Player of the Week Honor

Sept 18, 2012

Northland Sports Online

A sensational opening month of the season has produced a laundry list of accolades for Kate Lange, a trend that has no end in sight. Another award was added to the list Tuesday afternoon, when the University of Minnesota Duluth junior outside hitter was named National Player of the Week by the American Coaches Volleyball Coaches Association.

Lange receives the honor just 24 hours after claiming her second consecutive Offensive Player of the Week nod from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in as many weeks — and the fourth of her career.

Lange helped the Bulldogs close out the last two legs of a seven-match home stand in sparkling fashion with 50 kills (6.25 per set) last weekend, including a season-high 29 in Saturday’s thrilling five-set win over No. 22 MSU-Moorhead. The 2011 first team All-American added 17 digs and three blocks over the two-match stretch as the fourth-ranked Bulldogs improved to 11-0 on the season. Lange leads the NSIC in kills with 197 and carries a national-best average of 5.18 kills per frame on the year.

The most recent addition to UMD’s 1,000-kill club, Lange has reached double digits in kills in each of the last 44 matches dating back to an NCAA Central Region quarterfinal on Nov. 12, 2010. She’s led the Bulldogs in the kill department all 11 times out in 2012, and has five double-doubles to her credit.

Lange becomes the ninth UMD player to attain national player of the week honors from the AVCA, the last being Danielle Beckstrand on Nov. 5, 2007.

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