DeKALB – NIU volleyball’s sophomore defensive specialist/libero Francesca Bertucci is the Mid-American Conference West Defensive Player of the Week for the second week in a row, the conference announced Monday.

Bertucci earned the honor after recording a combined 57 digs in the Huskies’ pair of wins at the NIU Invitational against the University of Rhode Island and the University of Southern Indiana. Her performance earned her a spot on the all-tournament team, her fourth all-tournament selection of the season.

The conference also selected Bertucci as its West Division Defensive Player of the Week last week. She recorded a combined 32 digs in the KC Roos Classic on Sept. 9-10.

Bertucci currently leads the program with 197 kills and 5.63 digs per set across 10 matches. The sophomore now has four MAC West Defensive Player of the Week selections to her name after receiving a pair last season.

NIU will begin conference play at 6 p.m. Friday at Victor E. Court as the Huskies host the University of Akron Zips for a two-match series. Both matches will be streamed on NIUTube. Live statistics can be monitored at SIDEARM Sports.

Single-match tickets are available for purchase. Tickets are priced at $6 for the general public, $4 for youths and $3 per ticket for groups of 20 or more. Students can enter for free with their NIU OneCard or by claiming their student tickets online.