"I'm really proud of Nikki.  She played volleyball consistently this weekend and at a really high level," said Bronco head coach Jon Wallace. "She watches film every week on herself and her opponents.  She's developing her game throughout this year—which is hard to do in the middle of the season. But she's getting better week in and week out. It's fun to watch her grow and become a dominant player in our conference."

In the 3-0 win vs. No. 11 BYU - the Cougars first 3-0 loss since 2011 - Hess had a match-high 18 kills, adding two aces, seven digs and two block assists.  The Broncos held the nation's No. 1 blocking team to just five team blocks and SCU also scored a season-high 12 aces! 

Wallace added Hess does a lot for the Broncos, tremendously improving her game in the past year. "What stands out in my mind about the BYU match was her back row attack. She was able to relieve a lot of pressure for the rest of the team by hitting the ball out of the back court and has scored very well. She kept the block for BYU guessing. Her block row attack was pretty dominant as well as her blocking in the front court. We were able to scheme a little differently because she was able to control two of BYU's players at the net with her block. This allowed the other girls to go towards the other players at BYU, which helped our players tremendously." 

In the 3-2 win vs. No. 30 San Diego, she once again had a match-high 18 kills, adding an ace, two assists, 11 digs and a block assist.   

Hess is having a First-Team All-Conference type of season as she leads the team with 3.56 kpg and is third with 2.13 dpg.  In WCC play she scores a team-leading 3.93 mpg and is third with 2.27 dpg. 

"Nikki is able to hit the ball at different parts of the court, which makes her very challenging to defend," added Wallace. "That's why she's getting such great numbers in terms of hitting percentage and kills per set. Her range has increased a lot. Her passing this year is much better than a year ago, which assists our team in winning. Her demeanor—she is very confident right now and she is competing in every game."

Proud of Hess being named WCC Player of the Week, Wallace was also quick to point out that defeating No. 11 BYU and No. 30 San Diego was a total team effort.  "Our team is truly a team right now. Without one girl, the next girl can't do her job," said Wallace.  "We need to balance our offense and we need to fight from our defense. Between Taylor, Sabrina and Nikki - we want each girl to receive the same amount of sets and have great balance. What makes the other one better? If one girl had to carry all the load, it would be a lot harder, but when those three are clicking and playing with a lot of confidence, we are an extremely tough team to beat."