Austin Peay's Stephanie Champine was selected as the 2009 Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year while Murray State's Kayleah Sauer earned Defensive Player of the Year honors as voted on by the league's head coaches and sports information directors. Morehead State's Annie Gruenschlaeger was named Freshman of the Year while the Coach of the Year award went to Jacksonville State's Rick Nold.
Champine, a senior outside hitter from Lambertville, Mich., earned her fist Player of the Year honor after being named to the All-OVC first team and All-Newcomer team last season. She leads the league and ranks in the nation's top 30 with 4.35 kills and 4.76 points per set. The 2009 All-OVC first team selection has recorded 10 or more kills in 27 matches this year, including the last 25 contests. Chapmine has also averaged 3.42 digs the season. She has registered 20 double-doubles so far in 2009. Champine becomes the third Lady Govs to receive this award and first since Isabel Canedo won it in 1992.
A sophomore libero from Louisville, Ky., Sauer is third in the OVC with 4.97 digs per set to rank among the national leaders. She averaged 5.57 digs in league action this season. The 2009 All-OVC second team pick tallied double digit digs in all but one match this season. She hit the 20-plus dig mark nine times, including a 30-dig performance at Eastern Kentucky. Sauer becomes the second Racer to earn the honor since it began in 2003.
Gruenschlaeger, a freshman middle hitter from Ft. Thomas, Ky., is the third Morehead State player to be named OVC Freshman of the Year following Ashley Doscher in 2005 and Casie Garland in 2001. An All-Newcomer selection, Gruenschlaeger set a new school-single season record with 127 block assists so far in 2009. She ranks 17th in the nation with a league-leading 1.38 blocks per set and has registered 193 kills this season. Gruenschlaeger has recorded 10-plus kills five times while hitting the 10-block mark twice this season.
Nold collects his second OVC Coach of the Year honor after leading the Gamecocks to their third league regular-season title. Jacksonville State compiled a 17-1 Conference record, marking the most OVC wins for the Gamecocks in school history. Jacksonville State has won 18 of its last 19 matches heading into the tournament.
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
The 2009 All-OVC teams include five individuals who received postseason honors last year. Joining Champine on the first team are Morehead State sophomore Emma Keough and junior Kaitlin Craven; Jacksonville State senior Brittney Whitten and junior Caitlin Vorbeck; Southeast Missouri senior Karleigh DeLong; Tennessee Tech junior Leah Meffert; and Austin Peay junior Sarah Alisaleh.
Keough, a middle blocker from Batavia, earns her first All-OVC honor. She leads the league with .307 attack percentage and has recorded 234 kills over 109 sets in 2009. Keough has tallied 10 or more kills in 10 matches this season, including the last five.
An outside hitter from Louisville, Ky., Craven was selected to the first team this year after earning All-Newcomer honors in 2007. She ranks among league leaders in kills (3.17 kps), points (3.68 pps) and service aces (0.28 saps). Craven reached double-digit kills in 20 matches this season including posting two 20-plus kill efforts.
Whitten, an outside hitter from Boonville, Ind., is making her second straight All-OVC first team appearance. She ranks among Conference leaders with 3.23 kills and 3.82 digs per set. Whitten also has tallied 37 service aces this season. She recorded a double-double in all but seven matches this season and hit the 20-plus digs mark six times.
A middle blocker/outside hitter from Raytown, Mo., Vorbeck earns her first All-OVC first team honor. She has registered 32 service aces and 61 total blocks this season. Vorbeck averaged 2.89 kills this season and reached the 10-plus kill mark in 17 matches. She ranks among league leaders with 3.49 points per set.
DeLong, an outside hitter from Corona, Calif, is making her second appearance on the first team after earning the same honor in 2007. She ranks third in the OVC with 3.43 kills and 3.93 points per set. DeLong has produced 10 double-doubles this year, including a 20-20 effort with 25 kills and 22 digs versus Tennessee State.
An outside hitter from Louisville, Ky., Meffert earns her third straight All-OVC honor after being named the 2008 OVC Player of the Year. She is second in the league in kills (3.59) and points (4.12). Meffert reached double-digits in kills in all but three matches this season, including a 25-kill effort at Southeast Missouri. She also registered 295 digs this season.
Alisaleh, a setter from San Antonio, Texas, earns her first All-OVC honor. She ranks first in the league with 10.63 assists per set to rank among the nation's leaders. During OVC play, Alisaleh dished out 11.15 assists per set to help the Lady Govs post a .250 attack percentage.
Joining Sauer on the All-OVC second team from Murray State are sophomore setter Jade Guo (DaTong, Shanxi, China) and Becca Lamb (Highland, Ill.). Also earning second team accolades are Eastern Kentucky junior libero Abby O'Connor (Maineville, Ohio) and junior outside hitter Lauren Snyder (Ft. Mitchell, Ky.); Austin Peay junior middle blocker Jessica Mollman (Cincinnati, Ohio); and Tennessee Tech senior libero Katie Kenline (Ossian, Ind.). Guo is third in the league with 10.09 assists per set while Lamb ranks among OVC leaders with a .281 attack percentage. O'Connor averaged a conference-high 5.54 digs per set as Snyder recorded 3.23 kills per outing to rank sixth in the league. Mollman was third on the APSU team with 60 total blocks while Kenline ranks sixth in the league with 4.89 digs per set.
Along with Gruenschlaeger and Snyder earning All-Newcomer honors are Jacksonville State freshmen outside hitters Alyx Schulte (Cold Springs, Ky.) and Jen Meyer (Maineville, Ohio); Tennessee Tech freshman middle blocker Kelsey Gray (Newark, Ohio); UT Martin defensive specialist Kasey Elswick (Louisville, Ky.); and Morehead State freshman outside hitter Ellie Roberson (Louisville, Ky.). Schulte was third on the JSU squad with 2.35 kills per set while Meyer led the team with a .292 attack percentage. Gray averaged 1.03 blocks per set to rank fourth in the league as Elswick registered 4.90 digs each time out to finish fourth in the OVC. Roberson was second on the Murray State team with 2.63 kills per game.
2009 All-Ohio Valley Conference Volleyball Teams
(voted on by the league's head volleyball coaches and sports information directors)
FIRST TEAM
Stephanie Champine, Austin Peay
Emma Keough, Morehead State
Brittney Whitten, Jacksonville State
Karleigh DeLong, Southeast Missouri
Leah Meffert, Tennessee Tech
Sarah Alisaleh, Austin Peay
Caitlin Vorbeck, Jacksonville State
Kaitlin Craven, Morehead State.
(Eight players appear on the first team due to a tie)
SECOND TEAM
Jade Guo, Murray State
Kayleah Sauer, Murray State
Abby O'Connor, Eastern Kentucky
Jessica Mollman, Austin Peay
Lauren Snyder, Eastern Kentucky
Becca Lamb, Murray State
Katie Kenline, Tennessee Tech
OVC Player of the Year: Stephanie Champine, Austin Peay
OVC Freshman of the Year: Anne Gruenschlaeger, Morehead State
OVC Defensive Player of the Year: Kayleah Sauer, Murray State
OVC Coach of the Year: Rick Nold, Jacksonville State
ALL-NEWCOMER
Lauren Snyder, Eastern Kentucky
Annie Gruenschlaeger, Morehead State
Alyx Schulte, Jacksonville State
Jen Meyer, Jacksonville State
Kelsey Gray, Tennessee Tech
Kasey Elswick, UT Martin
Ellie Roberson, Morehead State