Nicely Earns Second Weekly Honor from HCAC
GREENWOOD, Ind. – Kristin Nicely helped Defiance to a pair of conference victories and an early lead in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings and has been tabbed as the HCAC’s Player of the Week for the second time in the last three weeks.
GREENWOOD, Ind. – Kristin Nicely helped Defiance to a pair of conference victories and an early lead in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference standings and has been tabbed as the HCAC's Player of the Week for the second time in the last three weeks.
Nicely earned the honor after she netted 4.12 kills and 0.88 blocks per set to go with a .391 hitting percentage in DC's road wins over Hanover and Franklin. The freshman right side hitter also reached double digits in kills for the 10th and 11th time in her last 12 contests.
Nicely made an immediate impact in the first HCAC match of her career, notching her third career double-double with a 19-kill, 11-dig, four-block outburst in Defiance's five-set win over the defending HCAC champion, Hanover, on Friday. Nicely committed only three errors in the win and ended with a sizzling .364 hitting percentage.
The Ayersville High product then helped the Yellow Jackets to a 3-0 sweep of Franklin on Saturday with 14 kills, a .440 hitting percentage and three more blocks.
Nicely has now turned in 10-or-more kills in 11 of her last 12 matches and is leading Defiance with a .273 hitting percentage, 165 kills and 32 blocks during that span. For the season Nicely leads the Jacket with 3.18 kills and 0.71 blocks per set, while ranking first and seventh among all HCAC players in those respective statistics.
Nicely and Defiance will look to stay perfect in league action when the No. 23 Mount St. Joseph Lions come to town. DC will host MSJ on Saturday, beginning at 10:00 am.