Horizon League Announces Preseason Volleyball Honors

INDIANAPOLIS -- Milwaukee senior Rachel Neuberger has been named the Horizon League’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, while Youngstown State senior Jenna Cavanaugh has been named the conference’s Preseason Defensive Player of the Year after voting of the league’s eight head coaches. The coaches were not allowed to vote for players on their own team.

Neuberger was the Newcomer of the Year after her freshman campaign in 2010 and has been on the All-League team at the conclusion of the last two seasons. The Muskego, Wis., native started all 28 matches for UWM last season and recorded 16 double-figure kill outings, including two matches with 20-plus kills. She finished the season as one of just two players in the conference to rank in the top-10 in both hitting percentage (third at .294) and kills per set (10th with 2.81/set). Neuberger led the League in hitting percentage in her sophomore season.

Cavanaugh started 24 matches last season for the Penguins and led the League with an average of 1.23 blocks per set. She finished with 115 block assists, tied for the second-most in school history and her 1.23 blocks/set average was the sixth-best in school history. She set a school-record with 13 blocks in YSU’s match versus UIC last September.

Neuberger is joined on the preseason All-League team by Valparaiso junior Morgan Beil, Youngstown State senior Missy Hundelt, UIC senior MaryKate Imrie, Milwaukee sophomore Kayla Price, Cleveland State sophomore Dayna Roberts and Valparaiso senior Ellen Vanden Berg.

Beil, a two-time All-League selection, ranked second on the Crusaders in hitting percentage and kills (.307, 2.44/set) and third in blocks (84, 0.67/set). She posted double figures in kills 14 times on the season. Beil’s teammate, Vanden Berg, was a member of the All-League team last season and was named an AVCA Honorable Mention All-Midwest Region honoree. She finished fourth in the league in blocking (1.13 blocks/set) and sixth in hitting percentage (.285). Her 144 total blocks ranks fifth on Valpo’s single-season charts, while her .285 hitting percentage is seventh-best in a single season in program history.

Hundelt, an All-League selection last season, ranked fourth in the League in kills per set last season with an average of 3.42 per set. She also averaged 2.89 digs per set. She was the first Penguin since the 2007 season to finish a season with over 300 kills and 300 digs.

Imrie led the Horizon League last season with 1,377 assists and an average of 11.20 assists per set. She had 11 50+-assist performances and two 60+-assists matches last season as she helped direct a UIC offense that finished third in the League in hitting percentage and second in the conference in kills per set.

Price, the 2011 Horizon League Newcomer of the Year, was a preseason All-League selection last year, but missed a majority of the season because of a hand injury. As a freshman, she led the League and finished 43rd in the nation in assists.  She had 40 or more assists in a contest 16 times and 50 or more assists three times.

Roberts was a member of the All-Newcomer team last season. She started all 30 matches last season for the Vikings and finished fifth in the League with an average of 6.76 assists per set after transitioning to the team’s primary setter midway through the season.

The volleyball season begins Friday, Aug. 30. The Horizon League Tournament will feature the top six teams in the league and will run from Nov. 22-24, with all matches played at the venue of the No. 1 seed.

Preseason All-Horizon League Team:
Morgan Beil, Valparaiso
Missy Hundelt, Youngstown State
MaryKate Imrie, UIC
Rachel Neuberger, Milwaukee
Kayla Price, Milwaukee
Dayna Roberts, Cleveland State
Ellen Vanden Berg, Valparaiso

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year: Rachel Neuberger, Milwaukee
Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Jenna Cavanaugh, Youngstown State