Taya Beller of Wayne State College was announced Monday afternoon as the Northern Sun Conference Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week following her efforts in three Wildcat matches last week.

            A 6-2 senior middle hitter from Lindsay (Humphrey/Lindsay Holy Family HS), Beller led the NSIC in blocks last week at 2.08 per set while also recording 4.67 kills with a .347 hitting percentage.  She started the week with a career-high 28 kills while also matching a career-best with 10 blocks in last Tuesday's 3-1 win at Winona State.  Beller followed that performance with 14 kills on a .609 hitting percentage with seven blocks in Friday's 3-0 sweep over #20 Minnesota Duluth and ended the week with 14 kills and eight blocks in Saturday's 3-2 setback to #5 St. Cloud State.

            For the season, Beller ranks second in the NSIC in points per set (4.73), kills (3.69) and blocks (1.29) while ranked fifth in the league in hitting percentage (.366).

            Wayne State, ranked sixth in the AVCA/TARAFLEX Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, is 14-3 overall and tied for second in the NSIC with an 8-1 league mark heading into Thursday night's Black Out Night home match against Augustana at 6 p.m. in Rice Auditorium.