Northwestern takes five of 12 UMAC Volleyball first team awards
Interview with 2012 UMAC Volleyball Player of the Year Anna Zyvoloski
Interview with 2012 UMAC Volleyball Coach of the Year Beth Wilmeth
ST. PAUL – Three schools took ownership of 12 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) First Team All-Conference awards, with Northwestern College alone assuming half of those accolades. Northwestern, who won both the UMAC regular season and tournament championships, claimed a total of six all-conference awards when the first team and honorable mention squads are included. Martin Luther College claimed three first team awards, while the University of Minnesota Morris added two .
For the second straight season, the College of St. Scholastica’s Anna Zyvoloski was voted the UMAC Player of the Year in addition to being a first team honoree. Zyvoloski, a senior, averaged a league-best 4.77 kills per set to go with 229 total kills in 14 conference matches while maintaining a .333 attacking percentage, which was good for second among UMAC players.
Minnesota Morris and Northwestern were represented in the UMAC Defensive Player of the Year award as the Cougars’ Kaylie Clark and the Eagles’ Lexi Bertsch were named co-recipients of that accolade. Clark and Bertsch went one-two in terms of digs per set throughout UMAC matches. Clark posted an average of 6.86 digs per set in those 14 matches, while Bertsch finished with 4.52 digs per set.
In addition to Bertsch, Northwestern freshman Kendra Korporal was named to the all-conference first team while being voted the UMAC Rookie of the Year. Korporal finished third in the league in kills per set (4.14) while being one of six UMAC student-athletes to finish with a hitting percentage over .300.
Korporal’s head coach, Beth Wilmeth, was voted the conference’s coach of the year by her colleagues. Under Wilmeth’s leadership, the Eagles went 13-1 in UMAC play before punching their ticket into the NCAA Division III Tournament for the third consecutive year last week. Northwestern also received the UMAC Team Sportsmanship Award, accolade that is selected by the UMAC coaches to best represent sportsmanship throughout the entire 2012 season. Each team had one representative on the individual sportsmanship award list:
Kasslin Swenson, Bethany Lutheran College
Brittany Oakman, College of St. Scholastica
Rebecca Cornish, Crown College
Jennifer Draeger, Martin Luther College
Anna Bird, North Central University
Alaina Donovan, Northland College
Lydia Palkert, Northwestern College
Brita Humphrey, University of Minnesota Morris
Below is a full listing of the 2012 UMAC volleyball postseason awards.
|
1st Team All-Conference |
|
Name |
Institution |
Year |
Position |
|
Shelby Wiederhoeft |
Bethany Lutheran College |
Sophomore |
Middle Hitter |
|
Anna Zyvoloski* |
College of St. Scholastica |
Senior |
Outside Hitter |
|
Rebecca Engelbrecht |
Martin Luther College |
Junior |
Outside Hitter |
|
Rachel Hein |
Martin Luther College |
Senior |
Middle Hitter |
|
Miranda Maasz |
Martin Luther College |
Sophomore |
Setter |
|
Lexi Bertsch |
Northwestern College |
Junior |
Libero |
|
Courtney Jonas |
Northwestern College |
Senior |
Middle Hitter |
|
Kendra Korporal |
Northwestern College |
Freshman |
Outside Hitter |
|
Lizzy Potratz |
Northwestern College |
Sophomore |
Outside Hitter |
|
Krista Stoltz |
Northwestern College |
Junior |
Setter |
|
Emily Auch |
University of Minnesota-Morris |
Sophomore |
Outside Hitter |
|
Kaylie Clark |
University of Minnesota-Morris |
Junior |
Libero |
|
Honorable Mention All-Conference |
|
Name |
Institution |
Year |
Position |
|
Erika Birkeland |
College of St. Scholastica |
Sophomore |
Setter |
|
Kortney Morrin |
College of St. Scholastica |
Sophomore |
Outside Hitter |
|
Taylor Tyllia |
College of St. Scholastica |
Senior |
Outside Hitter |
|
Trisha Birr |
Crown College |
Senior |
Outside Hitter |
|
Leah Nass |
Martin Luther College |
Freshman |
Middle/Outside Hitter |
|
Gabby Jukkala |
Northland College |
Senior |
Outside Hitter |
|
Megan Zynda |
Northland College |
Senior |
Setter |
|
Tija Rudzitis |
Northwestern College |
Senior |
Middle Hitter |
|
Jennifer Schmidt |
University of Minnesota-Morris |
Freshman |
Outside Hitter |
|
Abby Tietz |
University of Minnesota-Morris |
Freshman |
Middle Hitter |
*Player of the Year Award – Anna Zyvoloski (College of St. Scholastica)
Rookie of the Year Award – Kendra Korporal (Northwestern College)
Co-Defensive Player of the Year Award – Kaylie Clark (University of Minnesota, Morris) & Lexi Bertsch (Northwestern College)
Coach of the Year Award – Beth Wilmeth (Northwestern College)
Team Sportsmanship Award – Northwestern College