Topic earns Big 12 Volleyball Player of the Week honors
DALLAS -- Texas senior outside hitter Mira Topic (Kastela Kambelovac, Croatia) earned Big 12 Volleyball player of the week (Sept. 13-19) honors on Monday after leading the Longhorns to a 2-0 week in conference play last week. In two matches, Topic recorded 44 kills (5.50 kills/game) and 31 digs (3.88 digs/game) to pace Texas to victories over Baylor (3-0 on Wednesday, Sept. 15) and Colorado (3-2 on Saturday, Sept. 18). In Wednesday's match, Topic recorded 17 kills and 14 digs – including nine kills and seven digs in the first game – as Texas pulled past Baylor in the teams' conference opener. With her fourth dig of the match, Topic collected her 1,000th dig of her career, and in the process, became the seventh player in UT history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career. In Saturday's match, Topic's 27 kills – the highest total in conference matches this season – helped lead Texas in a come-from-behind victory over Colorado. After falling behind 2-0, UT won the final three games, and staved off four Buffalo match points in the final game. Three times, Topic kills negated a CU match point and brought the score back tied. She also added 17 digs in the match, as well as three blocks (two solos) and one ace. On the season, Topic leads the Big 12 conference in kills per game both overall (5.10) and in conference matches only (5.50). She is also fifth overall in hitting percentage (.393) and eighth in digs (3.55). She has six double-doubles in nine matches and 36 for her career. The player of the week honor is the fourth of her career after earning one each in her freshman, sophomore and junior seasons. Topic is a three-time first-team All-Big 12 honoree and a two-time All-American (third team in 2002 and honorable mention in 2003). The 22nd-ranked Longhorns return to action on Wednesday, Sept. 22, when the team hosts Iowa State in a Big 12 Conference match at 6:30 p.m., at Gregory Gym.
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