Hillsborough Native Named Big Ten Player of the Week

Penn State University softball player and Hillsborough native Alyssa VanDeerveer has been named both the Big Ten Conference Player of the Week and conference Freshman of the Week.

VanDerveer, who plays catcher for the Penn State Nittany Lions softball team, went 6-for-10 with a double, three home runs, eight runs scored and 11 runs batted in in games against Bucknell and Wisconsin, according to the Big Ten Conference. VanDerveer led all Big Ten players last week with a 1.600 slugging percentage and knocked in two grand slams, while tallying nine walks.

During the stretch, the Penn State freshman also secured three multi-hit, multi-walk games. She was awarded her first Conference Player and Conference Freshman of the Week awards.

The last Penn State player to be named Big Ten Player of the Week was Lexi Knief in April 2014 and the last Penn State Big Ten Freshman of the Week was Alyssa Sovereign in May 2011, the conference said.

VanDerveer leads the Penn State Nittany Lions with nine home runs on the season and is third in RBIs with 26.