A pair of Missouri State volleyball freshmen were honored by the Missouri Valley Conference Monday as Calli Norman won the league’s Player of the Week and Kelley Michnowicz received Freshman of the Week accolades.

    Norman led the Bears with a .441 (32-6-59) hitting percentage while averaging 2.91 kills, 1.18 blocks and 3.68 points in three wins last week.

    The freshman from St. Charles, Mo., had 10 kills on .389 hitting and three solo blocks in MSU’s upset of UNI Saturday and was integral in the Bears’ comeback from a 21-16 deficit in the fourth set. She had two solo blocks and a kill to go on a personal 3-0 run at that point and propel MSU to the victory in the fourth set and the match.

    Norman began the week with eight kills on 15 swings with a .467 hitting percentage against SIU-Edwardsville, and had 14 kills and eight blocks versus Bradley on Friday. She hit .462 against the Braves as well, making only two errors in 26 attempts to go with the career-high blocking total. She added two assists and two digs as well for the week.

    Michnowicz made only two errors in three matches, hitting .417 (27-2-60) and averaging 2.45 kills, 1.00 digs and 0.73 blocks per set.

    The Belleville, Ill., native played an error-free match Tuesday versus SIUE, notching eight kills in 15 swings to hit .533, adding four blocks as well. She topped the .400 mark again Friday against Bradley, hitting .409 with 10 kills, eight digs and three blocks. She continued her consistent play Saturday versus UNI, hitting .348 (9-1-23) with two assists, two digs and a solo block in a win over the Panthers.

    Norman is the third different Bear to win MVC Player of the Week this season, joining Cara Hackmann (Sept. 15) and Addie Foley (Oct. 6). Michnowicz is the first Freshman of the Week honoree for Missouri State in 2008.