Northwestern, St. Scholastica top UMAC Volleyball Awards
ST. PAUL -- 12 student-athletes from five different institutions were named to the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Volleyball All-Conference First Team on Thursday as Northwestern College led all schools with four first team honorees. Right behind the Eagles was the College of St. Scholastica with three. Northwestern and St. Scholastica shared the UMAC regular season championship while the Saints took the UMAC Tournament title and earned their first trip to the NCAA Tournament.
St. Scholastica’s Anna Zyvoloski was named the UMAC Player of the Year after placing second amongst all UMAC players with 4.02 kills per set and ranking first in service aces (0.49 per set). Zyvoloski also had top 10 finishes in both blocks and digs as she played all six rotations in Saints head coach Dana Moore’s system.
The University of Minnesota Morris’ Kaylie Clark earned defensive player of the year accolades as she led the UMAC in digs (4.20 per set) in her sophomore season. Clark also was amongst the top 10 in kills per set on offense. Martin Luther College’s Miranda Maasz and Minnesota Morris’ Emily Auch were named the UMAC Co-Rookies of the Year. Maasz averaged 9.08 assists per set (third overall) in conference contests while Auch placed seventh in digs per set, averaging 3.54 in UMAC affairs.
Martin Luther head coach Rebecca Cox was voted the UMAC Coach of the Year by her peers, taking her team to a 10-4 mark in UMAC play, which was a two-win improvement from the Knights’ previous season.
Northwestern College won the team sportsmanship award, an accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches to best represent sportsmanship throughout the entire 2011 season. Each of the eight teams had one representative on the individual sportsmanship award list:
Amanda Edmison, Bethany Lutheran College
Cortney Rykken, College of St. Scholastica
Kristin Buresh, Crown College
Jen Draeger, Martin Luther College
Ashley King, Northland College
Taylor Filzen, Northwestern College
Kelli Boekelheide, Presentation College
Brita Humphrey, University of Minnesota Morris
Below is a full listing of the 2011 UMAC Volleyball postseason awards.
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1st Team All-Conference
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Name
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Institution
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Year
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Position
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Shelby Vischer
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Crown College
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Junior
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Outside Hitter
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Paige Hardy
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College of St. Scholastica
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Junior
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Outside Hitter
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Sarah Kurtovich
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College of St. Scholastica
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Junior
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Setter
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Anna Zyvoloski*
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College of St. Scholastica
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Junior
|
Outside Hitter
|
|
Rebecca Engelbrecht
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Martin Luther College
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Sophomore
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Outside Hitter
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|
Rachel Hein
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Martin Luther College
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Junior
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Middle Hitter
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|
Courtney Jonas
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Northwestern College
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Junior
|
Middle Hitter
|
|
Greta King
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Northwestern College
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Senior
|
Outside Hitter
|
|
Chelsea Koth
|
Northwestern College
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Senior
|
Outside Hitter
|
|
Krista Stoltz
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Northwestern College
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Sophomore
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Setter
|
|
Kaylie Clark
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University of Minnesota, Morris
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Sophomore
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Outside Hitter
|
|
Natalie Thomas
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University of Minnesota, Morris
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Senior
|
Setter
|
|
Honorable Mention All-Conference
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|
Name
|
Institution
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Year
|
Position
|
|
Amanda Edminson
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Bethany Lutheran College
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Senior
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Outside Hitter
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|
Nikki Hughes
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College of St. Scholastica
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Senior
|
Libero
|
|
Taylor Tyllia
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College of St. Scholastica
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Junior
|
Outside Hitter
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Judy Mundt
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Crown College
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Junior
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Setter
|
|
Emily Boldt
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Martin Luther College
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Senior
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Middle Hitter
|
|
Miranda Maasz
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Martin Luther College
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Freshman
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Setter
|
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Cari Miller
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Northwestern College
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Freshman
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Outside Hitter
|
|
Megan Goedert
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Presentation College
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Freshman
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Outside Hitter
|
|
Emily Auch
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University of Minnesota, Morris
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Freshman
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Outside Hitter
|
|
Steph Schmiesing
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University of Minnesota, Morris
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Junior
|
Middle Hitter
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*Player of the Year Award – Anna Zyvoloski (College of St. Scholastica)
Co-Rookie of the Year Award – Miranda Maasz (Martin Luther College), Emily Auch (University of Minnesota, Morris)
Defensive Player of the Year Award – Kaylie Clark (University of Minnesota, Morris)
Coach of the Year Award – Rebecca Cox (Martin Luther College)
Team Sportsmanship Award – Northwestern College