Francesca Bertucci (Chicago, Ill./De La Salle) was named the Mid-American Conference West Co-Defensive Player of the Week, the league's office announced Monday. This is Bertucci's third MAC Player of the Week plaudit this season.
Bertucci helped anchor NIU's (15-10, 8-7 MAC) backcourt in the team's weekend split with Central Michigan (16-10, 9-6 MAC). The Huskies dropped Friday night's contest in four sets, but rebounded quickly with a straight set sweep of the Chippewas Saturday afternoon at Victor E. Court.
In Friday night's match, Bertucci joined a select group of Huskies as she eclipsed 1,000 career digs, a milestone few have accomplished in only their first two seasons. That was the cherry on top of an already stellar weekend for the sophomore - she had 30 digs in the weekend's opener before adding another 19 the following night; both were match-highs. In total, Bertucci had 49 (7/set) digs and only two reception errors through the weekend.
NIU heads to Eastern Michigan (5-22, 4-11 MAC) next weekend for another weekend series. Friday's match will start at 6 p.m. EST while Saturday's starts at 4 p.m. EST. Both matches will broadcast on ESPN3.
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