Norton Honored As CCAC Defender Of Week After 8-Block Match

CHICAGO – Krista Norton was named the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference's Defender of the Week after recording 14 blocks for Roosevelt between Sept. 4 and 10, the league announced Tuesday.

The junior from Snohomish, Wash. made a big impact in the Lakers' first conference win of the season on Sept. 7 against Governors State with four total blocks in the five-set victory. She had a pair of blocks in Roosevelt's match the next day against Cumberland, but saved her best performance for the final match of the week.

Norton registered eight blocks against a Taylor squad that received votes in the NAIA Top 25 poll while helping the Lakers stretch the match to four sets. That mark was a career high for the junior and also the third-most blocks in a match for a Roosevelt player in school history. She now has 30 blocks this season, matching her total from last year in just 12 matches.

"Krista continues to develop into one of our key blockers on defense," Roosevelt coach Nicasio Paquiz Jr. said. "I'm happy to see her hard work is paying off and that she was recognized by our conference for her performance last week."

Norton is the second Roosevelt player to be named the CCAC Defender of the Week, and she is the first Lakers player to earn a weekly honor from the league in two years.