Garvelink, Minarick Earn B1G Weekly Honors
10/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
East Lansing, Mich. â€" Michigan State sophomores Alyssa Garvelink and Rachel Minarick have earned weekly honors from the Big Ten, as announced on Monday, Oct. 19. Garvelink was named the Big Ten Player of the Week, while Minarick was selected as the Setter of the Week for the second time this season.
The awards come after the Spartans picked up wins over Maryland (3-1) and Rutgers (3-0) at home last week.
Garvelink had a combined 23 kills in the two MSU victories, hitting .588 on the week. Her .647 (12-1-17) hitting percentage against Rutgers on Oct. 17 was the second-highest in a conference match this season, and topped all players this past week. The Holland, Michigan, native had a total of nine blocks in the two matches, with five (three solo) coming in MSU's sweep of Rutgers. She also hit .529 (11-2-17) against Maryland, which led all Spartans.
In her sixth double-double of the season, Minarick tied her season bests in digs (12) and blocks (four) against Rutgers. She also posted three kills on four swings, and her 30 assists helped lead MSU to a season-best .425 hitting percentage. Against Maryland, Minarick had 46 assists, four blocks and nine digs, coming one dig short of another double-double. She led the Spartans to their second and third straight victories, their longest stretch this season in Conference matches.
It is the first career Player of the Week selection for Garvelink, who earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors twice last season. Minarick was named Setter of the Week back on Sept. 21 after posting the 11th triple-double in MSU history against North Carolina.
The Spartans continue Big Ten play this week with home matches against two of the top teams in the conference. MSU welcomes first-place Ohio State to Jenison Field House Wednesday night, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m. On Saturday, Penn State travels to East Lansing, with the match set to begin at 8 p.m. All fans who show their ticket stub from Saturday's football game will receive free entry to the match.
