Ducks Newcombe Named Pac-10 Player of the Week

This is the first weekly honor for Newcombe, and Oregon’s 10th Pac-10 Player of the Week all-time.

Photo courtesy: goducks.com

EUGENE - University of Oregon middle blocker Sonja Newcombe has been named the Pac-10 Volleyball Player of the Week for Oct. 9th-15th, Commissioner Tom Hansen announced Monday.

Newcombe, a freshman from Lake Arrowhead, Calif., led Oregon to a pair of victories over Arizona State and Arizona over the weekend, marking the Ducks’ first two-match series sweep over Pac-10 opponents for the first time in 17 years.

On Friday, Newcombe collected a match-high 17 kills and 14 digs against the Wildcats. In addition, she hit .444 with just one error in a three-set win over Arizona.

Against the Sun Devils, Newcombe led all players with 16 kills and 20.0 points to go with 15 digs and eight blocks.

The weekend sweep not only snapped a 16-match losing streak to the Sun Devils and a 15-match losing streak against the Wildcats, but pushed Oregon over the .500 mark in Pac-10 play for the first time since 1989. The Ducks Conference record of 4-3 marks the most Conference wins since 1991.

Newcombe is the second Duck to receive the honor since 1995, with the most recent being Lauren Westendorf, Sept. 7th, 2004. The last Duck to earn the award during the Pac-10 portion of the schedule was Michele Krebsbach in 1989.

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