SPOKANE, Wash. - After earning double-doubles in Seattle University's victories over Central Washington and Western Oregon, junior volleyball player Nikole Thompson (Marysville, Wash.) was named GNAC Volleyball Co-Player of the Week, announced Monday morning by the conference office.
In last Thursday's four-game victory over #22 Central Washington, Thompson earned a match-high 17 kills along with a personal season high of 19 defensive digs. She also picked up four service aces and a block assist as the Redhawks took three straight games from the Wildcats after losing the first one.
On Saturday at Western Oregon, Thompson again led the Redhawks offensively with 13 kills, making only one attack error in 31 attempts to post a .387 hitting percentage, her highest of the season. She also contributed two service aces, 14 digs, and a block assists to help the Redhawks sweep the Wolves and stay in contention for a postseason berth.
This is the second weekly award for Thompson this season, as she was previously honored on Aug. 28, after being named to the All-Tournament Team at the UCSD Invitational in La Jolla, Calif. Just like that week, she shares this week's award with Alyssa Given of Seattle Pacific, who set school records for kills (32) and kill attempts (86) in a match as the Falcons defeated Western Washington to clinch the outright GNAC title.
The Seattle University volleyball team was not selected to participate in the 2006 NCAA Division II Volleyball Tournament. However, Thompson is a candidate for All-GNAC and Academic All-District honors, plus she will return for the 2007 season to continue her stellar career at Seattle University.