Lansing Sun

Nalani Iosia, a fifth-year libero for Michigan State University, has been recognized as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week. This marks her second time receiving the honor this season and the third in her career. Iosia is the first player from her program to achieve this distinction three times since the award's inception in 2005.

Iosia played a pivotal role in leading the Spartans to victories over Michigan and Iowa last week. The team limited their opponents to a .073 hitting percentage, which was the best in the Big Ten conference during that period. Notably, against Iowa on November 17, Michigan State held them to a -.020 hitting percentage, marking their lowest opponent hitting percentage in Big Ten play since facing Indiana in 2014.

Individually, Iosia recorded an average of 5.00 digs per set with a total of 35 digs during these matches. She achieved her 11th match of the season with at least 20 digs against Michigan by recording 23 digs. For the season, she leads her peers in digs per set within the Big Ten with an average of 4.49 across 445 total digs and has improved this figure to 4.54 during conference play.

If maintained through the end of the season, Iosia's current average would rank as the sixth-best mark in program history. Over three seasons at MSU, she has accumulated 1,395 career digs, placing her fifth on Michigan State's all-time list.

Michigan State Volleyball shared highlights of Iosia and teammate Julia Bishop's efforts on social media: "What a play by Nalani Iosia and Julia Bishop to keep this play alive! #GoGreen | #SetTheStandard."

Looking ahead, MSU will host Oregon and Maryland for upcoming Big Ten conference matches at Breslin Student Events Center on November 21 and November 23 respectively.