Aug. 31, 2009

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Junior Brie Groskreutz (Reedsburg, Wis.), Bemidji State University outside hitter, has been named NSIC Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week by the office of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The award is the second of her career and marks the first time a Beaver has earned the conference award since Groskreutz was honored Sept. 10, 2007.

“I’m excited. I feel like it is a very well deserved honor,” said head coach Laurie Bitter. “She has worked hard, the team has worked hard and this is just another example of when you work hard and train hard, good things do happen. This is just one of many good things to come this year.”

Groskreutz was named to the Best Western/Runza Fall Classic All-Tournament Team last weekend after helping the Beavers to a 3-1 record in the tournament hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney. She led the team in digs with 68 (5.67 d/s) and posted the second most set assists (10, 0.83 a/s) and third most kills (24, 2.00 k/s). Groskreutz had three service aces and a .984 receiving percentage. The matches were the first since Groskreutz broke her hand four matches into the season in 2008 and earned a medical redshirt.

“The award feels good,” Groskreutz said. “Defense is the main thing for our team this year. I think defense wins matches and that is definitely what won matches last weekend. After that first match our team really came together and played well. We have a lot of athletes on this team and we have a lot of things to look forward to this season.”

The Beavers (3-1, 0-0 NSIC) are on a nine-set winning streak and have posted three victories in a row. The winning streak is the longest in Bitter’s career. The last time BSU won nine consecutive sets was Sept. 3-10, 2004.

BSU travels to the Florida Southern Classic, Sept 4-5, hosted by Florida Southern. The Beavers have four matches scheduled for the two-day event.

Bemidji State University, located in Bemidji, Minn., is an NCAA Division II institution and a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

--bsu--