FLORENCE, S.C. – Francis Marion University senior libero Jessica Strader has been selected as the Peach Belt Conference women’s volleyball Specialist of the Week for the opening portion of the 2006 season.

The Kettering, Ohio, native averaged 5.50 digs per game and recorded a team-high 22 service aces during FMU’s first nine matches. Her week was highlighted by a 31-dig performance in a road match at Lees-McRae College. That match was one of four in which she recorded 20 or more digs.

Last weekend, she established a new PBC career record for digs with 1,769, surpassing the old mark of 1,753 set by USC Aiken’s Roxanna Rivera in 1997.

She has helped Francis Marion to an 8-2 record. Among the wins was a 3-0 victory over Charleston Southern University on Tuesday, the program’s first win over an NCAA Division I opponent in 15 seasons. The Patriots will play in the AASU/Chatham Orthopaedics Classic, Friday and Saturday in Savannah, Ga.

It is the fourth time in her career Strader has earned the Specialist of the Week award, having won the award once in 2004 and twice in 2005. She is a former All-Ohio performer at Chaminade-Julienne Catholic High School.