9/16/02

Mira Topic named Big 12 Player of the Week

DALLAS, Texas – Sophomore outside hitter Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia/Vladimir Nazor) was named Big 12 Player of the Week for her performances against Akron and No. 9 Ohio State during the week of Sept. 9-15, the conference office announced Monday.

Topic, the 2001 Big 12 Freshman and AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year, becomes the first Longhorns’ player this season to be named player of the week after being named the Ohio State Invitational MVP last weekend. It was the second time this season that Topic was selected MVP as she was also selected as the most valuable player of the Longhorn Classic on Sept. 6 and 7. Topic helped the Horns go 2-0 last weekend as she had a per game average of 5.7 kills, 3.0 blocks and 1.57 digs.

In the upset of Ohio State, Topic committed the fewest hitting errors of her career by only missing five attacks. She had 19 kills and hit a stellar .438 against the Buckeyes. Against the Zips, Topic slammed 21 kills on 52 attempts while coming up with six digs and two assists. Topic leads Texas in kills per game (4.94) and is second in service aces per game (0.52) and digs per game (2.61).

The Longhorns (8-1) are ranked 24th in this week’s USA Today/AVCA Coaches poll, the first ranking Texas has received this season. UT opens the Big 12 season at home Wednesday night as the Missouri Tigers come to Gregory Gym for a 7 p.m. match. The Horns wrap up the weekend against No. 5 Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb. Match time is scheduled for 7 p.m.