Budinger Named National Player of the Week
March 13, 2006
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO-- Long Beach State's Duncan Budinger, a 6-8 right side/opposite hitter for fifth-ranked Long Beach State (15-6, 10-5 MPSF), was chosen the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I-II Men's National Player of the Week. He paced the 49ers to road victories at third-ranked Pepperdine and 14th-ranked Southern California. Budinger averaged 7.07 points, 6.43 kills, 0.86 blocks, 1.43 digs and 0.14 aces per game while hitting .429 in the two matches. He contributed 19 kills, three blocks, four digs, an ace and a .395 attack percentage in a sweep of Pepperdine on March 9. Budinger hit .457 with 26 kills, six digs and three blocks in leading Long Beach State to a four-game win over Southern California on March 11. He increased his season averages to 4.23 points, 3.48 kills, 1.11 blocks, 0.92 digs and 0.14 aces per game with a .409 cumulative hitting percentage. Budinger, who also earned the national honor on Jan. 17, 2006, is the fifth different 49er to receive a total of 12 national player of the week honors in program history. He eclipsed the 1,000-kill mark during the Pepperdine match and now has 1,035 in his career.
|
