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Purdue's Dargan and Northwestern's Gardner Selected Big Ten Players of the Week
Sept. 12, 2005
PLAYER OF THE WEEK Dargan earns her second-consecutive Big Ten Player of the Week award, after helping Purdue (8-0) to four wins and its best start since 1985, while also earning MVP honors at the GlaxoSmithKline Classic this past weekend. The senior setter helped her squad to wins over host North Carolina, South Carolina and Coastal Carolina. Last Wednesday, Dargan broke the school record for career assists in the Boilermakers' victory over Butler. Including the other three matches in the week, Dargan pushed her career-assist mark to 4,718. She averaged 13.00 assists per game on the week and helped the Boilermakers to a hitting percentage of .280. In addition, she also chalked up 10 kills, nine digs, four aces and six blocks. Dargan is the first Boilermaker to ever receive two Player of the Week awards in a single-season. Her back-to-back honors also mark the first time Purdue has won two straight weekly accolades since November 6-13, 1990. Last PUR POW: Renata Dargan (9/5/05) Gardner led a strong Northwestern defensive effort in a perfect 3-0 weekend enabling the Wildcats to win the Chicagoland Classic, while holding two opponents to a .100 or worse attack percentage. Her 18 digs against DePaul, which were recorded in a three-game match, was her best total of the season. She also helped the Wildcats hold the Blue Demons to just a .098 hitting percentage. The Northwestern defense also held Loyola-Chicago to an attack percentage of only .100. The Wildcats are 6-1 and off to their best start to a season since 1997. This is the first Defensive Player of the Week award for any NU volleyball student-athlete. Gardner, who earns her first career weekly award from the conference, is the first Wildcat to be honored since 2003. Last NU POW: Iwona Lodzik (9/15/03)
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