Kjolhede Tabbed Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
11/27/2023 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
ROSEMONT, Ill. - After leading the Hoosiers to a brilliant blocking weekend and a pair of victories at Michigan State and Michigan, Indiana senior middle blocker Savannah Kjolhede was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, as announced by the conference office on Monday (November 27th) afternoon.
Kjolhede was instrumental in a weekend that saw IU record 26 total team blocks across two matches including 15 in a resounding defensive effort at Michigan. The Colleyville, Texas native went for 16 blocks in total against the Spartans and Wolverines with seven block assists in each match and a pair of solo stuffs on Black Friday at the Breslin Center.
To pair with her defensive performance, Kjolhede contributed 15 kills on the offensive end while hitting a collective .393 in a pair of victories. She helped lead IU to its 21st win of the season on Saturday at Michigan, matching a program record for regular season wins.
The senior middle blocker was sixth in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.361) and 12th in the conference in total blocks (117.0) in 2023. She finishes her IU career as one of three players in program history with a career hitting percentage of .300+ and a total of 380+ blocks (Deyshia Lofton and Ashley Benson).
On the season, IU earned five Big Ten weekly awards; distributed among three different players. She is the first IU player to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors since libero Paula Cerame in 2022.
IU's three conference weekly award recipients (Kjolhede, Camryn Haworth and Ramsey Gary) in 2023 matches a program record set back in 2009 (Benson, Jordan Haverly and Caitlin Cox).
Big Ten Weekly Honors (Nov. 27)
Player of the Week: Sarah Franklin (Wisconsin)
Defensive Player of the Week: Savannah Kjolhede (Indiana)
Setter of the Week: Taylor Anderson (Purdue)
Freshman of the Week: Mia Tuman (Ohio State)
Kjolhede was instrumental in a weekend that saw IU record 26 total team blocks across two matches including 15 in a resounding defensive effort at Michigan. The Colleyville, Texas native went for 16 blocks in total against the Spartans and Wolverines with seven block assists in each match and a pair of solo stuffs on Black Friday at the Breslin Center.
To pair with her defensive performance, Kjolhede contributed 15 kills on the offensive end while hitting a collective .393 in a pair of victories. She helped lead IU to its 21st win of the season on Saturday at Michigan, matching a program record for regular season wins.
The senior middle blocker was sixth in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.361) and 12th in the conference in total blocks (117.0) in 2023. She finishes her IU career as one of three players in program history with a career hitting percentage of .300+ and a total of 380+ blocks (Deyshia Lofton and Ashley Benson).
On the season, IU earned five Big Ten weekly awards; distributed among three different players. She is the first IU player to earn Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors since libero Paula Cerame in 2022.
IU's three conference weekly award recipients (Kjolhede, Camryn Haworth and Ramsey Gary) in 2023 matches a program record set back in 2009 (Benson, Jordan Haverly and Caitlin Cox).
Big Ten Weekly Honors (Nov. 27)
Player of the Week: Sarah Franklin (Wisconsin)
Defensive Player of the Week: Savannah Kjolhede (Indiana)
Setter of the Week: Taylor Anderson (Purdue)
Freshman of the Week: Mia Tuman (Ohio State)
Players Mentioned
Defensive Specialist
/ Women's Volleyball
Libero
/ Women's Volleyball
Setter
/ Women's Volleyball
Middle Blocker
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