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2011 Iowa Conference Volleyball Awards Announced
CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Cornell sophomore outside hitter Kathleen O’Connor (Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan) has been named the 2011 IIAC Volleyball Most Valuable Player, Cornell College middle hitter Taylor Dicus (Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon) has been named the 2011 IIAC Volleyball Freshman of the Year and Coe College head coach DeAnn Woodin has been named the 2011 IIAC Volleyball Coach of the Year.
O’Connor, last year’s IIAC Freshman of the Year, has led Cornell (27-5, 5-3 IIAC) to a third-place finish in league play and the No. 3 seed in this year’s postseason tournament. Heading into Saturday’s championship game, she leads Cornell with 427 kills and 52 service aces. O’Connor also ranks second on the team in digs with 313 and fourth on the team in blocks with 54. She also recorded 14 double-doubles (kills-digs) this season. Her 427 kills ranks as the fifth-best single season effort in school history, although second place on the list (447, Melanie Manz, 2004) is not out of the question should the Rams advance to the NCAA Tournament. O’Connor also currently has the fourth-highest single-season ace total and point total (510.5) in program history. In two seasons, she already ranks fourth on the school’s career kills list (860 through November 3), fifth in points (1023) and seventh in aces (94).
In eight Iowa Conference matches, O’Connor ranked third in the league in kills (104 total; 3.71 per set), fourth in service aces (12; 0.43 per set) and eighth in digs (87; 3.11 per set). O’Connor owns six of the top ten kill totals for the Rams this season, including the season-high of 24 at Simpson on October 5. She was named Iowa Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the week of September 12-18. O’Connor was named to the all-tournament teams at the Augustana (Ill.) and Grinnell Invitationals in September.
Dicus ranks second on the Cornell squad in kills with 346 entering Saturday’s IIAC Tournament championship match. She ranked second in among all IIAC players in hitting percentage (.330) and led all Iowa Conference players in blocks (1.24 per set), shattering school records for total blocks (143) and block assists (112).In eight league matches, Dicus led the IIAC in blocks (43 total; 1.48 per set), ranked third in hitting percentage (.312; 86 kills-27 errors-189 total attacks) and ninth in kills (2.97 per set). She has posted 15 or more kills on eight occasions this season topping out at 19 against Loras on October 26. Dicus has also posted six blocks or more on 13 occasions, including a season-high seven on five occasions. Her season-high for solo blocks in a match is four set October 22 against Principia. She was named Iowa Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the week of September 1-4 and was named to the all-tournament team at the Grinnell Invitational the following weekend.
Woodin, in her sixth season at Coe, led the Kohawks to a 31-4 mark, setting a new school mark for wins. Coe concluded the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record in league play en route to the program’s first Iowa Conference volleyball title and the top seed in the postseason tournament. During the season, the Kohawks had two separate ten-match winning streaks and another that reached eight. This is the second Iowa Conference Coach of the Year honor for Woodin. She was previously honored in 2006 when she led the Kohawks to a 26-8 record, a tie for third place in the final regular standings, and a berth in the NCAA Division III Championship.
The IIAC also announced today the 2011 Volleyball All-Conference Team. The 16-member Team includes nine repeat All-Conference performers led by O’Connor, who was also a First Team selection last year in addition to being the league’s Freshman of the Year. She is the second Ram to be named Iowa Conference MVP (Laura Dudgeon, 2009). Central’s Chelsea Grieger and Wartburg’s Britlyn Sieck both repeated as First Team selections while picking up their third all-league honor overall. Grieger was a Second Team pick in 2009 before moving up to the First Team last year, while Sieck has been named to the First Team all three years. Coe’s Emily Ryan, Dubuque’s Lauren McKissick, and Wartburg’s Ramey Sieck all moved up to the First Team after being Second Team picks a year ago. Second-teamers Molly Steffens of Coe, Regan Riley of Loras, and Megan Dunlavy of Simpson were each named to their second all-league team. Steffens and Riley were named to the Second Team in 2009 and 2010, respectively, and Dunlavy was a first-teamer last year. Coe’s Kaitlin McClimon (first team) and Buena Vista’s Lacie Drennan (second team) each earned their first all-conference honor after being named honorable mention a year ago.
Conference champion Coe led the way with four All-Conference players followed by Wartburg and Cornell with three apiece. All three schools placed two individuals on the first team. Loras had two players selected – both to the second team, while one player each from Buena Vista, Central, Dubuque and Simpson rounded out the 2011 All-Conference team. In addition, Central and Luther each had two players receive Honorable Mention along with one student-athlete each from Cornell, Dubuque, Simpson and Wartburg.
| 2011 All-Iowa Conference Volleyball | ||||
| Most Valuable Player - Kathleen O'Connor, so., OH, Cornell | ||||
| Freshman of the Year - Taylor Dicus, MH, Cornell | ||||
| Coach of the Year - DeAnn Woodin, Coe | ||||
| First Team | School | Year | Pos. | Hometown/High School |
| Chelsea Grieger % $ | Central | Sr. | L | Pella, Iowa/Pella |
| Emily Ryan @ | Coe | Jr. | S | Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon |
| Kaitlin McClimon ^ | Coe | Sr. | MB | DeWitt, Iowa/Central Clinton |
| Kathleen O'Connor $ ~ | Cornell | So. | OH | Waukegan, Ill./Waukegan |
| Taylor Dicus | Cornell | Fr. | MH | Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon |
| Lauren McKissick @ | Dubuque | Jr. | OH | Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf |
| Ramey Sieck @ | Wartburg | So. | S | Fayette, Iowa/North Fayette |
| Britlyn Sieck # $ | Wartburg | Jr. | OH | Fayette, Iowa/North Fayette |
| Second Team | School | Year | Pos. | Hometown/High School |
| Lacie Drennan ^ | Buena Vista | Sr. | OH | Larrabee, Iowa/Cherokee Washington |
| Rachel Schaefer | Coe | Fr. | OH | Waterloo, Iowa/Columbus |
| Molly Steffens % | Coe | Sr. | OH | Peosta, Iowa/Western Dubuque |
| Kylea Weber | Cornell | Fr. | L | Mount Vernon, Iowa/Mount Vernon |
| Kaity Frost | Loras | Sr. | RS | Waterloo, Iowa/Columbus |
| Regan Riley @ | Loras | Jr. | OH | Brookfield, Ill./Riverside Brookfield |
| Megan Dunlavy $ | Simpson | Sr. | MH | Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf |
| Kelly Niemann | Wartburg | So. | MH | Fredericksburg, Iowa/Sumner-Fredericksburg |
| Honorable Mention | School | Year | Pos. | Hometown/High School |
| Maggie Snyder | Central | Sr. | S | Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria Jefferson |
| Caitlin Kouba | Central | Sr. | RS | Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert |
| Sabrina Hargis | Cornell | Fr. | S | Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar |
| Kristin Mortensen & | Dubuque | Sr. | L | Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere |
| Hannah Walker $ | Luther | So. | OH | Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock |
| Sophia Brown | Luther | Jr. | OH | Pleasant Hill, Iowa/Southeast Polk |
| Steph Keller | Simpson | Jr. | OH | Ames, Iowa/Ames |
| Bailey Wilson | Wartburg | Fr. | MH | West Des Moines, Iowa/Valley |
| Previous Honors | ||||
| ~ - 2010 Iowa Conference Freshman of the Year | ||||
| $-2010 First Team All-Conference | ||||
| @-2010 Second Team All-Conference | ||||
| ^-2010 Honorable Mention | ||||
| #-2009 First Team All-Conference | ||||
| %-2009 Second Team All-Conference | ||||
| &-2009 Honorable Mention | ||||
