 |  |
2011 MIAC Volleyball Awards
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic
Conference (MIAC) announced the 2011 MIAC Volleyball Awards
Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, including the All-Conference team, the
All-MIAC Sportsmanship team, and the conference's four individual
awards, which were split among the league's regular-season
co-champions, Concordia and St. Thomas.
The 2011 MIAC All-Conference team features 22 student-athletes,
selected by the league coaches based on their performance this
season. The team is made up of 11 seniors, six juniors,
two sophomores and three freshman. St. Thomas tied for the most
All-Conference selections with Bethel as each team had four players
selected. Concordia placed three players on the team, Saint
Benedict, Gustavus and Carleton each had two players honored and
there was one player apiece selected from Augsburg, Saint Mary's,
St. Olaf, St. Catherine and Macalester. Out of the 22 players
selected, 15 hail from Minnesota.
Concordia senior Jenna Green headlined the
All-MIAC team by earning 2011 MIAC Player-of-the-Year honors. Her
coach, Tim Mosser, was honored by his peers with
the 2011 MIAC Coach-of-the-Year award. The other two individual
awards went to a pair of Tommie teammates as St. Thomas junior
Kaitlain Wachter was named the 2011 MIAC Defensive
Player-of-the-Year and freshman Kelly Foley earned
2011 MIAC Rookie-of-the-Year honors.
Green's Player-of-the-Year honor is the appropriate punctuation to
an outstanding career. This year, she earned her third-straight
All-MIAC selection (2011, 2010, 2009) after receiving
Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 2008. While leading Concordia to the
MIAC's regular season co-championship and Playoff title, Green
surpassed the 1,000-kill milestone to go along with her 1,000
career digs and she was named MIAC Volleyball Hitter-of-the-Week
three times in 2011. She tied for the MIAC lead with 4.18 kills per
set (393 total) in overall matches while her 4.43 digs per set (416
total) was the sixth-best average in the conference. Her 4.11 kills
per set (152 total) in conference play also led the league, and her
average of 4.14 digs per set (153 total) ranked ninth in MIAC play.
With just seven more kills at this weekend's Regional tournament,
Green will become just the second Cobber ever to record 400 kills
and 400 digs in one season.
Mosser's MIAC Coach-of-the-Year honor is his third, and comes in a
season when he guided Concordia to a 25-3 overall record and a
Top-10 national ranking thus far, with a 10-1 conference mark. His
team shared the regular-season conference championship with St.
Thomas, and earned the No. 1 seed and home-court advantage in the
MIAC Playoffs. Concordia defeated Saint Benedict and the Tommies en
route to the league's postseason title, and an automatic bid to the
NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Tournament. The Cobbers were
awarded hosting duties for one of the eight-team regionals this
weekend. Mosser - in his 19th season as Concordia's head coach -
also won MIAC Coach-of-the-Year honors in 1995 and 2006, and he
currently has a career record of 371-215.
Wachter and Foley helped St. Thomas compile another memorable
season in 2011 with a 29-4 overall record, a 10-1 conference mark,
a trip to the MIAC Playoff championship match and a share of the
league's regular-season title. Wachter was the team's defensive
leader, and her 5.86 digs per set (680 total) average in overall
games ranked No. 1 in the league. She was even better in MIAC play,
averaging a conference-best 6.13 digs per set (239 total).
Foley burst onto the scene as one of the Tommies' top attackers,
and one of the best young hitters in the league in just her first
season out of Cretin-Derham Hall in St. Paul. Foley has racked up
405 kills thus far in 2011. Her .326 hitting percentage in overall
matches ranks third in the MIAC, and her overall average of 3.68
kills per set is the fourth-best average in the conference this
year.
As part of a conference-wide sportsmanship initiative, the MIAC
announced the sixth annual All-MIAC Sportsmanship team for
volleyball. Members of the All-MIAC Sportsmanship team are selected
by their coaches and teammates as individuals who demonstrate
ideals of positive sportsmanship both on and off the field of
competition.
2011 MIAC Volleyball Awards
Player-of-the-Year - Jenna
Green, Concordia (Sr., OH, Dilworth,
Minn./Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton)
Coach-of-the-Year - Tim
Mosser, Concordia (19th season)
Defensive Player-of-the-Year - Kaitlain
Wachter, St. Thomas (Jr., L, Eagan, Minn./Eastview)
Rookie-of-the-Year
- Kelly Foley, St. Thomas (Fr., MB, , St. Paul,
Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall)
2011 MIAC Volleyball
All-Conference Team
| Name | Team | Year | Position | Hometown/High School |
| Angela Ahrendt | Gustavus | Sr. | MH | Shoreview, Minn./Roseville |
| Erin Anderson | Carleton | Sr. | L | Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy |
| Laura Avena | Macalester | So. | RS | Cesis, Latvia/ Riga Gimnasium #1 |
| Ariel Carlson | St. Olaf | Jr. | MB | Alexandria, Minn./Alexandria Jefferson |
| Taylor Cross | St. Thomas | Sr. | MB | Woodbury, Minn./Hill-Murray |
| Kelly Foley | St. Thomas | Fr. | MB | St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall |
| Kara Grant | Saint Mary's | Fr. | OH | Peosta, Iowa. Western Dubuque |
| Jenna Green | Concordia | Sr. | OH | Dilworth, Minn./Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton |
| Caitie Helle | Bethel | Jr. | MB | Onamia, Minn. |
|
Ashley Maher |
St. Thomas | Sr. | S | Hutchinson, Minn. |
| Emily McCourt | Augsburg | So. | S | Sun Prairie, Wis. |
| Malea Noennig | Gustavus | Sr. | S | Norwood Young America, Minn./Mayer Lutheran |
| Alexa Rinde | Saint Benedict | Fr. | RH | Minnetonka, Minn./Orono |
| Kate Smith | Bethel | Sr. | S | Arden Hills, Minn./Mounds View |
| Chelsie Sobieck | Saint Benedict | Sr. | OH | Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake |
| Amy Sykora | Concordia | Sr. | S | Rapid City, S.D./Stevens |
| Katie Vohnoutka | Concordia | Sr. | MH | Eden Prairie, Minn. |
| Kaitlain Wachter | St. Thomas | Jr. | L | Eagan, Minn./Eastview |
| Brittni Wangerin | St. Catherine | Jr. | OH | Prior Lake, Minn. |
| Amy Werner | Bethel | Jr. | MB | Three Lakes, Wis. |
| Nicole Wriedt | Bethel | Sr. | RS | Pewaukee, Wis./Hartland Arrowhead |
| Jessa Youso | Carleton | Jr. | MH | Virginia, Minn. |
2011 All-MIAC
Volleyball Sportsmanship Team
Augsburg
- Amy Jo Opsal (Sr., DS, North Mankato,
Minn./ St. Clair)
Bethel
- Haley Toter (Sr., OH, Park Ridge, Ill./Main
South )
Carleton
- Elissa Walter (Jr., OH, Aspen, Colo.)
Concordia
- Ashley
Beseman (Raymond, Minn./MACCRAY)
Gustavus
- Katie Ness (Sr, DS, Excelsior,
Minn/Minnetonka)
Hamline
- Paige Walters (Fr., OH, Nevis, Minn.)
Macalester
- Bailey Rehnberg (So., OH, York, Pa./York
Suburban)
Saint Benedict
- Kathryn Gaydos (So., S, Savage, Minn., Prior
Lake)
St. Catherine
- Stephanie Meschke (Jr., MB, Faribault,
Minn./Bethlehem Academy)
Saint
Mary’s - Megan Leisen (Jr., S, Kellogg,
Minn./ Wabasha-Kellogg)
St. Olaf
- Katie McDonald (Sr., DS, Northfield,
Minn.)
St. Thomas
- Ashley Maher (Sr., S, Hutchinson,
Minn.)
