Oct. 1, 2007

Park Ridge, Ill. - Illinois freshman Laura DeBruler has been selected as the Big Ten Player of the Week.

DeBruler helped the Illini return to .500 in conference action, leading the Illini in both wins over Michigan State and Northwestern, with 19 and 20 kills, respectively. Against the Spartans, the Illini stared at a 2-0 deficit in the match, but were able to turn things around behind five kills by DeBruler in game three. Against the Wildcats, DeBruler turned in the match of her young career, pounding down All-American numbers with 20 kills in a 3-0 sweep on the road. The kills mark was one-upped only by her attack percentage, a career-high .487 with only one error on the entire match. For the weekend, DeBruler almost hit an average of five kills per game, including almost eight kills per game against Northwestern.

DeBruler has moved into second in the Big Ten in kills per game at 4.67, just behind Indiana's Erica Short.

This is the first Player of the Week honor for the Illini since Rachel VanMeter won twice in 2005. Beth Vrdsky, Ashley Edinger and Lizzie Bazzetta have all been named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week in the past two seasons.