Horizon League Announces Volleyball Award Winners

INDIANAPOLIS -- Milwaukee senior Kerri Schuh has been named the Horizon League Volleyball Player of the Year, while Valparaiso junior Taylor Root earned Defensive Player of the Year accolades. Milwaukee’s Kayla Price collected Newcomer of the Year honors, while Milwaukee’s coach Susie Johnson was named Coach of the Year in voting of the League’s coaches.

Schuh, Root and Johnson are all repeat winners from the 2010 season.

Milwaukee, the first team to go undefeated in conference play since Notre Dame in 1994, led all teams with four players on the All-League team. Schuh was joined by Elizabeth Egerer, Rachel Neuberger and Morgan Potter on the team.

Schuh averaged 3.43 kills per set and 1.03 blocks per set as she was the only player in the conference to rank in the top-five in both categories. Neuberger, last season’s Newcomer of the Year, led the league in blocks (1.33 per set) and hitting percentage (.329). Egerer had a 3.48 kills per set average, which was the highest among the Panthers, and Potter averaged 4.74 digs per set, third in the conference.

Price led all league players in assists, averaging 10.96 per set, in her first year of collegiate volleyball.

Root was named Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season after averaging 5.37 digs per set. The three-time All-League honoree became the conference’s career leader in digs last week and now has 1,958 for her career with one season of eligibility left. Root was joined on the All-League team by teammates Morgan Beil (also on the All-Newcomer team) and Jenny Pokorny.

Second place finisher Cleveland State had two players on the first team in senior Jordan Goad and junior Kara Koch. Koch finished second in the conference in kills per set, averaging 4.10 for the season. Goad finished second among league players in conference matches with an average of 11.18 assists per set.

Third place Butler had two players on the All-League team in Maureen Bamiro and Maggie Harbison. Bamiro ranked among the league’s top-10 players in hitting percentage (.288), kills per set (2.80) and blocks per set (1.08). Harbison ranked third in the conference in blocks per set with a 1.08 average. The Bulldogs also had three (Kelly Kyle, Belle Obert and Brooke Ruffolo) of the seven members on the All-Newcomer team. Ruffolo finished fourth in the league, and first among freshmen, in digs per set, averaging 4.52.

The All-League team was rounded out by Green Bay’s Abbey Gitter (2.87 digs per set) and Brittany Groth (league-leading 5.75 digs per set) and UIC’sKelsey Safranek (led league with 4.42 kills per set average), while the All-Newcomer team consisted of Price, Beil, the trio of Butler players and UIC’sSara Sternard and Loyola’s Laura Purcell.

The Horizon League Volleyball Championship begins on Friday, Nov. 18 at the Klotsche Center in Milwaukee, Wis. The quarterfinals start with No. 5 UIC facing No. 4 Valparaiso at 5:30 (ET) and No. 6 Green Bay playing No. 3 Butler at 8 p.m. (ET). No. 1 Milwaukee will square off against the lowest remaining seed while No. 2 Cleveland State will meet the highest remaining team in the semifinals, which begin at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 19.  The championship contest begins at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 20.The semifinals and championship will be carried live on the Horizon League Network at HorizonLeague.com.

2011 Horizon League Award Winners
All-Horizon League
Name Year Pos.
Kerri Schuh, Milwaukee Sr. OH/RS
Kara Koch, Cleveland State Jr. OH
Rachel Neuberger, Milwaukee So. MB
Maureen Bamiro, Butler Sr. MB
Taylor Root, Valparaiso Jr. L
Kelsey Safranek, UIC Jr. OH
Jordan Goad, Cleveland State Sr. S
Brittany Groth, Green Bay Jr. L
Morgan Beil, Valparaiso Fr. MH/RS
Morgan Potter, Milwaukee Sr. DS
Maggie Harbison, Butler So. MB
Elizabeth Egerer, Milwaukee Jr. OH
Jenny Pokorny, Valparaiso Sr. S
Abbey Gitter, Green Bay Sr. RS

All-Newcomer Team
Name Pos.
Kayla Price, Milwaukee S
Morgan Beil, Valparaiso MH/RS
Brooke Ruffolo, Butler DS/L
Belle Obert, Butler OH
Laura Purcell, Loyola OH
Sara Sternard, UIC MH
Kelly Kyle, Butler OH

Player of the Year: Kerri Schuh, Milwaukee
Defensive Player of the Year: Taylor Root, Valparaiso
Newcomer of the Year: Kayla Price, Milwaukee
Coach of the Year: Susie Johnson, Milwaukee