UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State women's volleyball's Kaitlyn Hord was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week for her play at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge hosted by Stanford.
Hord, a native of Lexington, Kentucky, put together back-to-back complete performances out of the middle in the Nittany Lions' matches against No. 4 Stanford and No. 18 Oregon. Hord averaged a team-best 3.83 kills per set, on a team-high .538 hitting percentage. She averaged 2.00 blocks per set, also a team-high.
In the match against Stanford, Hord put down 7 kills on a .500 clip, adding five blocks.
On Saturday against Oregon, Hord put down 16 kills in just three sets, the most by a player for Penn State so far this season. Hord was also efficient, hitting .556 for the match, and added a huge defensive spark as she added seven blocks.
Hord is the first Nittany Lion to earn a Big Ten weekly honor this season, and is the first to win a Freshman of the Week honor since Haleigh Washington in November 2014.