Indiana setter Teodora Kričković is our Performer of the Week after a record-setting night in a ranked comeback win at Michigan State and her 2,000th career assist a day later at Michigan. NCAA Division I openers on Monday night brought more good news, led by Noa Zemljić’s 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting in UMass’s road win at Troy, while Matias Haliseva and Vuk Topalović kept their strong junior college starts going.

Performer of the Week: Teodora Kričković — Indiana University

Teodora Kričković, Indiana University volleyball

Teodora ran the Indiana offense through one of the Hoosiers’ best wins of the season on Friday, October 30, as IU came back from two sets down to beat No. 25 Michigan State 3–2 (19–25, 15–25, 25–15, 25–19, 15–7) in East Lansing. The sophomore setter finished with 44 assists and 8 service aces, and BVM Sports reported that “her ace total set an IU rally-scoring-era record.”

A day later at Michigan, she recorded 41 assists, 10 digs, 2 kills on .667 hitting and 3 block assists, and reached 2,000 career assists, becoming the 12th Hoosier ever to get there. That is 85 assists and 9 aces over a two-match Big Ten road weekend.

Box score at Michigan · Recap: Ranked Reverse Sweep · Kričković reaches 2,000 career assists

Noa Zemljić — UMass

Noa Zemljić, UMass men's basketball

Noa gave UMass a lift off the bench in Monday’s season opener, scoring 11 points in 15 minutes on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three, as the Minutemen won 71–60 at Troy in the MAC-SBC Challenge. Amherst Wire singled out his “15 efficient minutes” as a highlight of the night.

Box score at Troy · Amherst Wire recap

Matias Haliseva — Dodge City Community College

Matias Haliseva, Dodge City Community College men's basketball

Matias made his college debut in the starting lineup on Friday, October 30, at the Western Texas Classic, scoring 12 points with 6 rebounds in 20 minutes against Western Texas College on 5-of-11 shooting. The Conquistadors’ recap highlighted Dodge City “pulling to within one at 29-28 on a Matias Haliseva dunk.” On Monday he started again and scored 8 points on 4-of-5 shooting with 4 rebounds as Dodge City beat Western Nebraska 79–65 in its home opener.

Box score vs Western Texas · Recap · Box score vs Western Nebraska · Recap: home opener win

Vuk Topalović — Arizona Western College

Vuk helped Arizona Western open its season 2–0 at the EAC Spooktacular Classic in Thatcher, Arizona. In Friday’s 72–68 win over Lamar Community College he scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting and grabbed 5 rebounds, 4 of them offensive, in 19 minutes off the bench. On Saturday he added 2 points, 6 rebounds and an assist as the Matadors beat Phoenix College 85–44.

Recap vs Lamar CC · Box score vs Phoenix College · KYMA: Arizona Western opens season 2–0

Staš Šivka — William & Mary

Staš scored 9 points in 13 minutes off the bench in William & Mary’s 80–66 season-opening win over Bridgewater on Monday, going a perfect 6-of-6 from the free-throw line and adding 2 assists and a block.

Box score vs Bridgewater · Recap

Emil Hirvonen — College of Southern Idaho

Emil started both of Southern Idaho’s opening games as the Golden Eagles went 2–0. In the 65–61 win over Eastern Wyoming he had 4 points, 5 rebounds and a block on 2-of-3 shooting, and in the 105–56 rout of Central Wyoming he was again in the starting five and perfect from the field.

Box score vs Eastern Wyoming · Box score vs Central Wyoming

Also on the court this week

Lazar Milošević (Longwood), Tadej Colnarič and Maruan Čičić (Green Bay), Olavi Suutela (UC San Diego), Oliver Kanden (Pepperdine), Kalle Kuhalampi (Cameron), Colin Schroeder (Fresno State), Dimitrije Pavlović (Bradley), and Marko Pavlović and Mihail Gavazov (Oral Roberts).

Coming up

  • Friday, November 6: Noa Zemljić and UMass face Boston College at TD Garden in the Hall of Fame Series.
  • Friday, November 6 and Sunday, November 8: Teodora Kričković and Indiana volleyball host Iowa and Illinois.
  • Saturday, November 7: Fresno State at UC San Diego, a client matchup between Colin Schroeder and Olavi Suutela.

Follow our athletes on Instagram @nilplusgroup. Recruiting inquiries: momir@nilplusgroup.com

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