Phoenix, AZ -- Junior setter Melissa Cheng earned her first selection of 2011 to the PacWest Weekly Top 10 Honor Roll for the week of October 17-23 after setting up a bevy of kills for the Urban Knights as they went 1-1 against Notre Dame de Namur (L 2-3) and Dominican University (W 3-0). The honor was announced by the PacWest Media Office in Phoenix, AZ on Monday. 

Cheng helped the Urban Knights by hitting .333 and averaging 8.12 assists per set. She tied for ninth in hitting for the week in the PacWest, and ranked eighth in assists per set, totaling 65 assists over the two matches. Since taking over, Cheng has 165 assists in 2011.

Cheng, who was inserted into the lineup midway through the year, has helped re-invent a tough Urban Knights squad, and has brought experience and a physicality to the team that head coach Allison Magner has truly admired. Her play was so impressive last week that the referee came up to the scorer's table after the second set and remarked "The ART U setter is on fire!" to the scorekeeper. 

"Melissa is very physical at the net," Magner said about her setter. "She's not scared to be aggressive when it comes to the block or the attack. To have that mentality in a setter is tremendous."

This is Cheng's first Honor Roll selection of 2011, and her fourth overall in her Urban Knight career.