SAU's Grafton, Sondag Back In The News, IUSB's Seeger Gains First WVB Weekly Honor

CHICAGO --- Week 1 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Players of the Week Mackenzie Grafton (Orion, Ill.) and Hannah Sondag (Webster Groves, Mo.) of St. Ambrose University have returned to the spotlight in Week 10 and were joined by Indiana University South Bend's Abby Seeger (Whitehall, Mich.) when the league office made the announcement of the award winners on Tuesday.

Seeger added to her league-best blocks-per-set-average with 16 over 12 sets played between Oct. 23-29 to earn CCAC Defender of the Week honors.  The senior middle hitter recorded no less than three blocks in each of IUSB's three contests last week en route to her impressive 1.33 average for the seven-day period.

Seeger's highlight match was her eight-block performance on Thursday in a five-set decision over Trinity Christian College.  She also had five blocks in a three-set victory against Saint Xavier University on Tuesday and three more in a four-set loss to St. Ambrose on Saturday. 

Indiana South Bend's 2-1 week put the Titans' CCAC record at 5-8, while being 5-21 overall.

Grafton and Sondag were two key pieces to the Fighting Bees' going 3-0 on the week and being the first league team to knock off first-place Judson University.  Grafton was named the CCAC Attacker of the Week, while Sondag claimed CCAC Setter of the Week accord.

In the win over Judson, Grafton produced a double-double with her match-high 24 kills and 14 digs.  She also provided three blocks.

Her other performances included a 15-kill match in a three-set nod over Indiana University Northwest on Tuesday and a 16-kill, 9-dig, 3-block effort in a four-set victory opposite Indiana South Bend on Saturday.

For the week, Grafton averaged 4.6 kills, 2.3 digs and 0.5 blocks per set, while hitting at a .229 clip.

Sondag also recorded a double-double in the Judson match, totaling 51 assists and 18 digs to go along with three aces.  The junior registered 40 assists and nine digs, as well, versus Indiana South Bend and 34 sets and seven digs opposite Indiana Northwest.

All told, Sondag averaged 10.4 assists and 2.8 digs on the week.

St. Ambrose moved into sole possession of second place in the league standings with the three conference wins.  The Bees are 15-14 overall and 9-4 in CCAC action.        

Other Attacker Nominees: Alyssa Gerzel (Judson), Aleksandra Barac (Governors State), Abby Gentile (Saint Xavier), Taryn Hinken (Trinity Christian), Halle Nicholas (Olivet Nazarene), Joana Rafols (Roosevelt), Abby Seeger (Indiana South Bend).

Other Defender Nominees: Yomailis Fernandez (Judson), Lexi Huntley (St. Ambrose), Kaleigh Ritter (Saint Xavier), Sara Serafimova (Olivet Nazarene), Cecilia Zuniga (Trinity Christian).

Other Setter Nominees: Alexis Bartz (Trinity Christian), Isa Grana (Roosevelt), Emma Knowlton (Indiana South Bend), Lindsay Lawlor (Judson), Hadleigh Loitz (Olivet Nazarene), Yareli Pacheco (Governors State), Kaleigh Ritter (Saint Xavier).