After breaking the Horizon League record for career digs last week, junior libero Taylor Root (Jenison, Mich./Jenison) set another record on Monday, becoming the first volleyball player in league history to earn Player of the Week accolades eight times as she picked up the final Defensive Player of the Week honor of the regular season.

Root entered last week just 22 digs shy of Leanne Felsing’s previous league record of 1,929 career digs and broke the mark in the fourth set of the Crusaders’ victory over Chicago State Tuesday evening.  The junior finished the match with a match-high 26 digs, and then paced Valpo on Friday as well with 25 digs in a four-set contest against Milwaukee. 

On the week, Root averaged 6.38 digs/set, while she enters this week with 1,958 career digs.  The junior sits just 42 digs shy of becoming the second player in Valpo volleyball history to surpass the 2,000-dig milestone despite being in just her third season as a Crusader.