(Posted February 16, 2004)

Huntingdon, PA - Juniata College junior setter Ricky Ziegler (Northeastern/Manchester) was selected as the Sports Imports/AVCA Division III National Player of the Week in helping the Eagles to a pair of victories over Division I opponents. Ziegler is the second Juniata player to earn the Division III Player of the Week this season.

Ziegler just missed a triple-double with 51 assists, nine digs and nine blocks in a four-game win over St. Francis (Pa.). He added four kills with zero errors (.667) while directing the offense to a .341 hitting effort in that match. Ziegler then tallied 48 assists (16.0 per game), four digs, two kills, one ace and one block assist in a sweep of Princeton. The Eagles hit .371 as a team against the Tigers. For the week, Ziegler averaged 14.14 assists, 1.86 digs, 1.43 blocks and .86 kills per game, while hitting .333, all above his current season averages. Juniata hit .355 as a team over the course of the two matches.

In his first year as the full-time setter Ziegler is averaging 13.83 assists per game and has led the Eagle offense to a .313 team hitting percentage. He ranks second on the team in both blocks and digs with 39 and 44 respectively. He is also second on the team in serve aces. He ranked first among all Division III setters in assists per game according to the statistics report released on Feb. 10th. Ziegler has had at least 40 assists in each of Juniata's eight matches this season. He has had five or more blocks and five or more digs in five of the team's eight matches.

Ziegler has helped Juniata got off to a 5-3 start in 2004, and the Eagles are 3-2 in the very competitive EIVA Tait Division. Juniata has a perfect 5-0 mark against Division III opponents including a 3-1 win over Springfield College the top-ranked team in the AVCA Division III coach's poll. Juniata entered the week ranked second in the AVCA poll.

Juniata will host Lees-McRae in a home contest on Friday Feb. 20.

###

Our readers respond...

Be the first to provide a response.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.