Nov. 10, 2008

Park Ridge, Ill. - Illinois sophomore outside hitter Laura DeBruler continues to elevate her game and this weekend's performances were some of her best. Today the Big Ten has recognized those performances by naming DeBruler the conference's Player of the Week.

DeBruler became just the second player in Illinois history to eclipse the 1,000 career kill mark in her first two seasons, now with 1,023. The sophomore recorded two double-doubles on the road over the weekend, first with 22 kills and 14 digs in a 3-1 win over Iowa, followed by a 29-kill, 13-dig performance in a five-set match against No. 17 Minnesota. The Downers Grove, Ill., native leads the conference with 16 overall double-doubles and eight in Big Ten play. She is also the only player in the conference to rank in the top 10 in kills and digs per set. For the weekend, DeBruler averaged 5.7 kills per set on .305 hitting with 27 total digs and five total blocks for an average of 6.06 points per set.

This is the fourth time in her career and the second that this season that DeBruler has been honored. She was not only Big Ten, but also National Player of the Week on Sept. 1 after leading the Illini to a come-from-behind victory in the State Farm Illini Classic. She also earned the honor twice as a freshman.

Illinois has five Big Ten Player of the Week honors this season, including four in the past five weeks - DeBruler (Sept. 1), Johannah Bangert (Defensive POW on Oct. 13) and Ashley Edinger (Defensive POW on Oct. 27 and Nov. 3). This marks just the third time in school history that the Illini have earned five Big Ten Player of the Week honors in a single season, doing so in both 1986 and 1992.