Big Ten hands out annual postseason volleyball awards – Volleyball News
The Big Ten Volleyball Conference annual awards were announced on Tuesday, November 29. The list of Big Ten honourees and individual awards included three former suburban volleyball stars, who earned acknowledgement for their hard work in the regular season.
Former outside hitter (OH) of Naperville North High School, Colleen Ward; OH Stephanie Holthus of Burlington Central; and Ellen Chapman of Wisconsin settled for the honours.
Colleen Ward – All-tournament team award
The Naperville native, Ward, spent a successful season and achieved a big breakthrough by crossing the 1,500 kills mark. She set a new career record by combining the numbers at Florida and Illinois. She managed to make her name at the BYU/Nike Invitational
and the State Farm Illini Classic this season. She appeared in 31 matches and earned double-digit kills in 27 matches, which is pretty impressive. Overall, she recorded double-doubles in 18 matches. In the 2011 season, she recorded 3.66 kills per set and worked
up her position to seventh spot in the conference. Moreover, Ward had the distinction of scoring 20 kills and 20 digs in a straight-sets victory over Northwestern. It was only the second time that any player had a 20-20 performance in a three-set match in
the history of the school’s volleyball program.
Stephanie Holthus - MVP
The Wildcats superstar, Stepanie Holthus was named as the Most Valuable Player of the Year by Big Ten Conference (BTC). She was also chosen for the All-Tournament team at the Magnolia Invitational. She was named to the All-Freshman team in previous season
and elevated her position in the 2011 Season. Holthus tallied a total of 475 kills on phenomenal 1452 attack attempts. She accumulated 530.5 points and marked the seventh-highest single-season output in Northwestern history. Ahe also led the Wildcats with
15 double-doubles in 2011, while establishing career-high efforts in several categories. On the whole, Holthus completed the regular season fourth in both kills with 4.17 per set and points with 4.65 per set.
Ellen Chapman - InnTowner Invitational All-Tournament
Ellen also joined the honourees on account of her wonderful record in the season. She appeared in 28 matches and led her team in kills for 13 matches, 11 of which were in a row. She registered double-digit kills in 11 matches, including last nine in a row.
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