CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After a weekend road sweep of Maryland and Ohio State, redshirt-freshman Diana Brown was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week, the conference announced on Monday (November 25).
This marks the second-career weekly honor Brown has collected after collecting the honor earlier this season on October 7. It is the fourth weekly conference honor the Illini have received this season with junior Morgan O'Brien and senior Ashlyn Fleming each also earning Defensive Player of the Week honors on November 18 and October 7, respectively.
Brown totaled 85 assists and 19 digs in the two road victories to average 12.14 helpers and 2.71 digs per set, while directing the Illini to a .227 team hitting percentage. She also added three kills on a .500 hitting percentage and two blocks.
In the weekend opener against the Terrapins on Friday night, Brown notched her team-leading 13th double-double of the season with 37 assists and a match-high 11 digs. The Columbus, Ohio native then registered 48 assists, eight digs and two blocks, while guiding the Illini to a .250 attack percentage against OSU on Sunday.
Brown and the Illini will next wrap up the 2019 regular season with back-to-back meetings with Northwestern, first hosting the Wildcats on Wednesday (November 27) on Senior Night in a BTN televised match at 7:30 p.m. CT, before heading to Evanston, Ill., for a Saturday (November 30) match-up at 7 p.m. CT in Welsh-Ryan Arena.
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