Nov. 26, 2007

IRVING, Texas -- Tracy Stalls (Nebraska) and Ashley Mass (Iowa State) have been named the final Big 12 Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week of the 2007 season for matches of Nov. 19-25, the league office announced.

Stalls and Mass both receive their second award.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Tracy Stalls, Nebraska, MB, Sr., 6-4, Denver, Colo./Lakewood
Stalls recorded a Big 12-best .724 hitting percentage, while averaging 4.25 points and 3.83 kills in a pair of sweeps over Baylor and Texas Tech. She reached double figures in kills and hit .500 or better in six games on the week. The All-America middle blocker also posted 0.83 blocks per game, helping the Huskers to hold both BU and TTU under .100 hitting.

On Saturday, Stalls tied a NCAA record with a 1.000 hitting percentage after going 13-for-13 against the Red Raiders to clinch a share of the Big 12 title. It marked only the second time in conference history that a player has connected on every attempt (minimum 10 attempts), as she joined Megan Korver, who accomplished the feat against Iowa State in 1998 with 10 kills in 10 swings. Only two players in NCAA Division I history had more kills with a perfect hitting percentage in match than Stalls' effort. Behind Stalls' performance, the Huskers hit .474 for the second-highest total in a Big 12 match in 2007.

Stalls compiled a .500 hitting percentage with 10 kills while adding a pair of blocks in the victory at Baylor on Wednesday. She leads the Big 12 and ranks third nationally with a .474 hitting percentage, which would break NU's single-season mark (.440: Virginia Stahr, 1989) and the Big 12 record (.415: Nicole Wilson-Missouri, 2005).

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Ashley Mass, Iowa State, L, Fr., 5-8, Muskego, Wis./Muskego
Mass, a Big 12 All-Freshman Team member, paced the conference in digs this week with a 5.44 average.

She registered a career-high 30 digs in ISU's 3-1 win over No. 21 Oklahoma on Saturday. It marked the first time in 67 matches that a Cyclone reached the 30-dig plateau, and a league-high for a four-game match this season. The Muskego, Wis. native also added 19 digs in Iowa State's loss to No. 3 Texas.

For the season, Mass has 474 digs, which is the third best single-season total in school history. She has surpassed the ISU freshman record (359), and set by teammate Kaylee Manns a year ago.