Upper Midwest Athletic Conference

St. Scholastica and Northwestern lead volleyball all-conference awards; Paige Hardy named POY

11/10/2010 10:18:51 AM

ST. PAUL -- Sophomore Paige Hardy and four of her teammates from the College of St. Scholastica joined five players from Northwestern College in Wednesday’s announcement of the 2010 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Volleyball All-Conference teams. Following St. Scholastica and Northwestern, who finished first and second in the final league standings, was the University of Minnesota, Morris, who had two representatives on the first team and five overall.

In just her second year of college competition, Hardy was selected as the UMAC’s Player of the Year after finishing second in the conference in kills per set (4.02), fifth in hitting percentage (.308) and sixth in digs per set (3.19). As a team, St. Scholastica was first in hitting percentage, total kills and assists per set.

Martin Luther College’s Rebecca Engelbrecht was chosen as the conference’s rookie of the year. Engelbrecht averaged 3.1 kills per set while earning honorable mention all-conference accolades. In addition to her first team all-conference selection, Northwestern’s Kelsey Korporal was honored with UMAC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second consecutive season. Korporal was second among all players in digs (4.29 per set) while leading the league in serving aces (0.81 per game).

Following his team’s continued improvement over the last two years, Minnesota-Morris’ Chad Braegelmann was voted by his colleagues as the conference’s coach of the year. Braegelmann’s Cougars finished the 2010 season in a tie for second place at 11-3, up from last year’s 9-5 mark. Minnesota-Morris was the UMAC’s top digging team (16.29 per set) while being second in the league in assists (12.04 per set).

A full listing of the 2010 UMAC Volleyball awards is below.

1st Team All-Conference
Name	Institution	Year	Position
Paige Hardy*	College of St. Scholastica	Sophomore	Outside Hitter
Nikki Hughes	College of St. Scholastica	Junior	Libero
Sarah Kurtovich	College of St. Scholastica	Sophomore	Setter
Anna Zyvoloski	College of St. Scholastica	Sophomore	Outside Hitter
Emily Boldt	Martin Luther College	Junior	Middle Hitter
Laura Fisher	Northland College	Senior	Middle Hitter
Chelsea Koth	Northwestern College	Junior	Outside Hitter
Kelsey Korporal	Northwestern College	Senior	Libero
Leah Kostek	Northwestern College	Senior	Setter
Elissa Sandstrom	Northwestern College	Senior	Middle Hitter
Jordan Olerud	University of Minnesota-Morris	Senior	Outside Hitter
Megan Theis	University of Minnesota-Morris	Senior	Middle Hitter

Honorable Mention All-Conference
Name	Institution	Year	Position
Nicole Jones	Bethany Lutheran College	Senior	Setter
Emily Schrupp	Bethany Lutheran College	Sophomore	Right Side Hitter
Taylor Tyllia	College of St. Scholastica	Sophomore	Right Side Hitter
Shelby Vischer	Crown College	Sophomore	Outside Hitter
Rebecca Engelbrecht	Martin Luther College	Freshman	Outside Hitter
Renee Peters	Martin Luther College	Senior	Libero
Greta King	Northwestern College	Junior	Outside Hitter
Kaylie Clark	University of Minnesota-Morris	Freshman	Outside Hitter
Natalie Thomas	University of Minnesota-Morris	Junior	Setter
Steph Schmiesing	University of Minnesota-Morris	Sophomore	Right Side Hitter