Elmer Named Big 12 Player of the Week

Dallas -- University of Nebraska middle blocker Melissa Elmer (Ft. Wayne, Ind.) was selected Monday as the Big 12 Player of the Week for the week of Oct. 3-9.

Elmer averaged 5.00 points, 3.50 kills, and 2.75 blocks while hitting .500 in road victories at No. 7 Missouri and Kansas last week as top-ranked Nebraska took over sole possession of the Big 12 race. This is Elmer’s second Big 12 honor of her career, as she was honored during the 2003 season.

Against seventh-ranked Missouri on Wednesday, Elmer totaled a season-high 17 kills and hit .548 in handing the Tigers their first loss of the season. Elmer, who also had six blocks, became just the second player in school history to record at least 17 kills without committing a hitting error.

On Saturday, Elmer tied a Big 12 record with 16 blocks and recorded 11 kills on .429 hitting against the Jayhawks. Her 16 blocks was the most by a Husker in the rally-scoring era, and tied for second on NU’s single-match list.

Elmer currently leads the nation with 2.27 blocks per game for the 15-0 Huskers.  She is the only player in the country averaging over 2.00 blocks, while also compiling 2.90 kills per game and a .433 hitting percentage, which ranks third in the conference this season.

Elmer and the No. 1 ranked Huskers begin a three-match homestand this week, as they take on in-state rival Creighton at the NU Coliseum Tuesday evening. The match will be carried on the Pinnacle Sports Network, including B107.3 FM, and also shown live in Lincoln (Time Warner Ch. 102), Omaha (Cox Ch. 802) and on Pinpoint Communications in the western part of Nebraska (contact local operator for information).