Senior libero Julie Walroth has been named the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the week of September 10.  This is the second time Walroth has been selected for this honor in the last three weeks.  This is the first time in the history of the UE program that a player has earned weekly honors twice in the same season. 

In her three matches during the week, Walroth finished with 102 digs, averaging 7.29 digs a game. During UE’s midweek match against Lipscomb on September 11, Walroth had 31 digs to average 6.20 a game.  She finished with 34 against Indiana State on Friday September 14, that total averaged out to 8.5 a game.  Against Illinois State on September 15, Walroth had a career high and tied a UE school record for most digs in a match with 37.  Walroth averaged 7.40 digs a game against the Redbirds.

“Julie played great all three matches for us last week and has all year,” head coach Mike Swan said.  “I wish she could have had one more dig to beat that record of 37 against Illinois State.  To average over seven a game last week shows her willingness to play hard.   I think she is really deserving of this, and she does a great job for us.  It’s a real tribute to her and the hard work she has put in during her career.” 

With her performance on Saturday, the Cincinnati, Ohio native moved to second on the all-time UE dig list.  She now has 1,754 digs for her career.  Walroth will need 302 more digs to top the number one spot on the list, which is owned by Julie Groves (’97-00) who had 2,055 for her career.  Walroth will need to average just over 18 digs in the final 16 MVC matches in order to claim the record. 

UE has one MVC match this weekend.  The Aces will travel to Carbondale, Ill. on Friday to face the Southern Illinois Salukis.  The match is set to begin at 7:00 PM.