Northwestern University Athletics
Christie Gardner Named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week
9/12/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 12, 2005
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern senior libero Christie Gardner (West Bend, Wis./West Bend East) earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for her MVP performance at the Chicagoland Classic last weekend.
Gardner led a strong Northwestern defensive effort in a perfect 3-0 weekend to enable the Wildcats to win the Chicagoland Classic, while holding two opponents to a .100 or worse attack percentage. Her 18 digs against DePaul, which were recorded in a three-game match, was her best total of the season.
She also helped the Wildcats hold the Blue Demons to just a .098 hitting percentage. The Northwestern defense also held Loyola-Chicago to an attack percentage of only .100. The Wildcats are 6-1 and off to their best start to a season since 1997.
This is the first Defensive Player of the Week award, an honor in its first year of existence, for any NU volleyball student-athlete. Gardner, who earns her first career weekly award from the conference, is the first Wildcat to be honored since Iwona Lodzik received the nod on Sept. 15, 2003.
