Following a near-upset of Northwestern and its second tournament title of the season last week, the Valpo volleyball team had a pair of players honored with weekly awards from the Missouri Valley Conference office Monday, as Lilly Merk (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute South Vigo) was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week and Keira Lucas (Brazil, Ind./Northview) was honored as MVC Freshman of the Week.
 
Merk's week was highlighted by her performance at the net against Northwestern, as she smashed her previous career high with 12 blocks. That total ranks second by a Valpo player in a five-set match in the 25-point era, third in a five-set match overall and tied for fifth across all matches in program history, while it also tied for seventh among all D-I players this season in a five-set match. Merk followed with six blocks over the two matches she appeared in at the Lehigh Steel Classic, helping the Beacons capture the tournament title. For the week, Merk averaged an MVC-best 1.50 blocks/set.
 
Lucas was instrumental in helping Valpo win the Lehigh Steel Classic last weekend. She opened the tournament with eight kills on .583 hitting, three service aces and five digs in just two sets of action in the sweep of NJIT, and followed with five kills and eight digs in the sweep of Sacred Heart. Lucas closed the tournament with nine kills, five digs and a pair of aces in the clinching victory over the hosts. For the week, Lucas averaged 2.44 kills/set on .302 hitting, 2.00 digs/set and committed just one serve reception error on 49 attempts.
 
Merk and Lucas each received their first career weekly MVC awards. Valpo has claimed Defensive Player of the Week honors in two of the season's first three weeks, as Emma Hickey earned the award after opening weekend. Meanwhile, Lucas is Valpo's first Freshman of the Week since Ava Helming received the accolade in back-to-back weeks last October.