St. LOUIS -- Missouri State freshman outside hitter Lily Johnson (Wildwood, Mo.) was honored by the Missouri Valley Conference Monday (Sept. 15) as both its Player and Freshman of the Week.

Johnson was unstoppable last week for the Bears, amassing 84 total kills and 94 points with averages of 4.94 kills, 5.53 points, 2.00 digs and 0.41 aces per set. Johnson had no fewer than 17 kills and 19.5 points in any of MSU's four matches, all of which came against teams that finished the 2013 season with an RPI of 64 or better, with three of those teams playing in the NCAA Tournament.

Johnson's week began with 23 kills, two aces, three blocks and a .233 hitting percentage Monday at Kansas State, and continued with a Missouri State freshman-record 26 kills in a Friday win over Ball State. She added 10 digs against the Cardinals for the double-double.

Saturday at No. 4 Wisconsin, Johnson scored 11 kills in the first set alone and finished with 18 kills, 12 digs and two aces against the Badgers. She concluded the weekend with 17 kills on .293 hitting to go with a pair of aces in MSU's sweep of Miami (Fla.), and win that marked the 400th of Melissa Stokes's Missouri State career.

To summarize Johnson's superlatives for the week: 26 kills vs. Ball State are the most for an MSU player since 2004; 26 kills vs. Ball State and 23 kills at Kansas State represent the No. 1 and 3 single-match totals for a freshman in MSU history, respectively (individual match-by-match records date to 1987); First MSU player with back-to-back 20-kill matches since 2000; Posted the highest two-match, three-match, and four-match kill totals at Missouri State since 1998; Reached 100 kills in her eighth match of the year, quicker than any freshman in school history.

Johnson and the Bears (6-5) open Missouri Valley Conference play Friday by hosting Indiana State (8-3) at 7 p.m. at Hammons Student Center.

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