INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced Thursday at an awards reception at the NCAA Hall of Champions that University of Indianapolis outside hitter Kristina Kerrigan, Missouri S&T middle hitter Krista Haslag, and Rockhurst University middle hitter Kelsey Stratman and head coach Tracy Rietzke have been honored with the GLVC’s major postseason honors in volleyball. Kerrigan was named the GLVC Player of the Year, Haslag and Stratman were voted by the league coaches as co-Freshman of the Year, while Rietzke was recognized by his peers as Coach of the Year. In addition, 10 student-athletes garnered first-team All-Conference distinction, while two 12-member All-East and All-West Division squads were also announced.
Kerrigan, a senior from Muncie, Ind., guided the Greyhounds to a 15-3 league record, a 26-6 overall mark, and a national top-25 ranking by averaging 4.64 kills per set. On the year, she finished with a league-leading 515 kills, 24 assists, 16 aces, 361 digs and 46 blocks. Kerrigan, who amassed 18 double-doubles during the regular season, ranks among the nation’s top 10 in kills (fourth) and points (sixth). The Sept. 25th AVCA National Player of the Week selection and two-time GLVC Baden Offensive Player of the Week honoree etched her name in UIndy’s record book this season, becoming the school’s second all-time leader in career points (1,912) and kills (1,771), and third in single-season kills (515). Kerrigan started her illustrious career as the 2009 GLVC Freshman of the Year and is now just the second Greyhound to earn the conference’s top honor as Beth Robbins was named the GLVC Player of the Year in 2008.
Haslag, a middle hitter from Linn, Mo., is the first-ever Lady Miner to earn GLVC Freshman of the Year. Haslag was a force for S&T this season, leading the team to its second-straight GLVC West Division Championship. A two-time GLVC Baden Offensive Player of the Week, Haslag set a school record with 147 total blocks and 132 assisted blocks, and led the GLVC in blocking while ranking 11th nationally. Her .345 hitting percentage also paced the league, and her 309 kills was the eighth-best mark in school history. Haslag set the bar in individual contests this year with career highs in kills (18) against William Jewell, hitting percentage (.684) versus Illinois Springfield, and blocks (11) in non-conference action against Northwest Missouri.
Stratman, a middle hitter from Omaha, Neb., shares the league’s top newcomer award and was also named to the GLVC All-West Division team after leading the conference and ranking 16th in the country with 1.29 blocks per set. She notched 292 kills, 143 blocks, 37 digs, and 11 aces in 112 sets for the Hawks. She posted a career-high 21 kills versus UW-Parkside on Oct. 20 and recorded a personal-best 13 blocks against Missouri-St. Louis on Sept. 21. Four times this year she was credited with eight or more blocks in a match. Stratman was honored with both a GLVC Baden Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week award this year. She is the second Rockhurst player to earn GLVC Freshman of the Year and first since Emily Crowley in 2007. This season marks the second time the Freshman of the Year award has been split and first since SIU Edwardsville’s Heather Blonde and Lewis’ Kathy Sulkowski shared the honor in 2002.
In his 24th year as the lead man at Rockhurst, Rietzke earns his second career GLVC Coach of the Year accolade. He has directed the Hawks to a 25-6 record this season, including a 14-4 mark in GLVC action and 13-1 in West Division play. They are the second-seeded team from the West Division for the 2012 GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament, which begins Friday in Indianapolis. In addition to Stratman’s two weekly honors, Rietzke’s standouts earned four other weekly nods from the league this season, including a pair of defensive honors for Whitney Kostal and Victoria Mahl.
Kerrigan, Haslag and Stratman were joined by seven other standouts on the 10-member All-Conference first team, which expanded from eight due to ties. The other first-team selections included Drury’s Alex Smith, UIndy’s Meghan Binkerd, Lewis’ Colleen Mitros and Carly Perschnick, Missouri S&T’s Jennifer Costello, Quincy’s Briann Joslin and UW-Parkside’s Bridget Nickel.
Two 12-member divisional teams were also selected by the coaches. Joining Binkerd, Kerrigan, Mitros, Perschnick, and Nickel on the All-East Division team were Bellarmine’s Paula Byrns, Alyson Harmeling, and Jaclyn Ohlmann, UIndy’s Brittany Anglemyer and Amy Oldenburg, and Lewis’ Leigh Barea and Amy Choi. In addition to All-West Division honorees Smith, Costello, Haslag, Joslin and Stratman, the remaining seven West honorees included Drury’s Sara Borneman, Missouri S&T’s Jocelyn DeMotte and Julie Meyer, Missouri-St. Louis’ Liz Jaeger, and Rockhurst’s Whitney Kostal and Emily Ready.
A complete list of the 2012 GLVC All-Conference honorees follows:
ALL-GLVC FIRST TEAM**
Alex Smith, Sr., DU
Meghan Binkerd, So., UINDY
Kristina Kerrigan, Sr., UINDY
Colleen Mitros, R-Sr., LEWIS
Carly Perschnick, Sr., LEWIS
Jennifer Costello, Sr., S&T
Krista Haslag, Fr., S&T
Briann Joslin, Jr., QU
Kelsey Stratman, Fr., RU
Bridget Nickel, Jr., UWP
**Two added due to ties
ALL-GLVC EAST DIVISION
Paula Byrns, Sr., BU
Alyson Harmeling, Sr., BU
Jaclyn Ohlmann, So., BU
Brittany Anglemyer, Jr., UINDY
Meghan Binkerd, So., UINDY
Kristina Kerrigan, Sr., UINDY
Amy Oldenburg, Sr., UINDY
Leigh Barea, So., LEWIS
Amy Choi, Jr., LEWIS
Colleen Mitros, R-Sr., LEWIS
Carly Perschnick, Sr., LEWIS
Bridget Nickel, Jr., UWP
ALL-GLVC WEST DIVISION
Sara Borneman, So., DU
Alex Smith, Sr., DU
Liz Jaeger, Sr., UMSL
Jennifer Costello, Sr., S&T
Jocelyn DeMotte, Sr., S&T
Krista Haslag, Fr., S&T
Kelly Kosmopolis, Sr., S&T
Julie Meyer, Sr., S&T
Briann Joslin, Jr., QU
Whitney Kostal, Fr., RU
Emily Ready, So., RU
Kelsey Stratman, Fr., RU
2012 GLVC PLAYER OF THE YEAR:
Kristina Kerrigan, Sr., OH, Indianapolis
2012 GLVC CO-FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR:
Krista Haslag, MH, Missouri S&T & Kelsey Stratman, MH, Rockhurst
2012 GLVC COACH OF THE YEAR:
Tracy Rietzke, Rockhurst