Liz Schnelle named National Volleyball Player of Week for second time this season

Liz Schnelle

By Steven Wright

ADA — For the second time this season and the third time for her career, junior All-American middle hitter Liz Schnelle has been named the Sports Imports/AVCA Division III National Volleyball Player of the Week.

The New Bremen, Ohio native led the No. 8-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball team to the NCAA Great Lakes Regional Championship last week with three consecutive victories that extended Northern’s record winning streak to 26 matches..

ONU’s first win came against Westminster (Pa.) where Schnelle had 22 kills, three digs and three blocks.

Schnelle then led the Polar Bears to back-to-back upsets over No. 5 Wittenberg and No. 3 Washington (Mo.)

She was one kill away from tying a season high with 26 against Wittenberg in a thrilling five-set ONU victory.

Schnelle hit at a mark of .382 while recording six digs and four total blocks against the host Tigers.

Against Washington Schnelle delivered her best match of the week, hitting .432 with 22 kills in a four-set win over the defending national champions.

For her efforts, Schnelle was named Great Lakes Regional Tournament MVP.

In total, Schnelle had 70 kills (5.38 k/s) and a .333 hitting percentage on the week.

This is the third time this season that a Polar Bear has earned this award, as fellow All-American Katie Weininger captured the distinction earlier in the year.

Schnelle’s selection marks the eighth time a player from Ohio Northern has received the award.

ONU will continue its season at the NCAA Championships in Bloomington, Ill. on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan on Thursday against Williams (Mass.) at 9:30 pm EST.