November 7, 2007

Volleyball Has Six on 2007 All-RMAC Team

Svec Setter, Co-Freshmen of the Year; Squiers Coach of the Year

      Kearney, Neb. – The 21^st-ranked Nebraska-Kearney volleyball team has placed six players on the 2007 All-RMAC team. The team, voted on by the league's head coaches, was released earlier today.

      Making the first-team were sophomore middle Nikki Scott (Broken Bow), freshman middle Jeri Walkowiak (Grand Island) and freshman setter Cola Svec (Elkhorn).

      Sophomore right side Shannon Clausen (Beatrice) and sophomore outside Erica Burson (Gretna; Gross Catholic) made the second-team with sophomore libero Kelli Wemhoff (Humphrey) earning honorable mention.

      Svec is also the "Setter of the Year" and joins Metro State outside hitter Kelsey Ellis as "Co-Freshmen of the Year." Finally, Rick Squiers was named the "Coach of the Year" for the fourth time in his nine years at Kearney.

      Scott, a three-time East Division P.OW. in 2007, leads the team in attack percentage (.359) while ranking second in kills (3.64) and blocks (0.63) per game. Also at the net, Walkowiak is first on the Lopers in blocks (1.04), third in kills (3.02) and is hitting a healthy .327.

      Running the offense, Svec is handing out 13.08 assists per game, tops in the league and 10^th in the nation. As a team, UNK ranks first in the RMAC in kills (16.5 pg) and attack percentage (.262).

      Svec also is second on the Loper in digs per game (3.32) and service aces (29). Other Lopers to be tabbed as the RMAC's top freshmen include Kim Brummer (1996), Melissa Carper (1998), Jill Gergen (2005) and Erin Gudmundson (2002).

      Clausen is having an all-around good year; 1.95 kills, 2.15 digs and 0.70 blocks per game with a .315 attack percentage. She also has 24 service aces and ranks first on the team in solo blocks (25).

      Thanks to a recent hot stretch, Burson leads the Lopers in kills (3.68) and is hitting .251 for the year. She also supplies 1.29 digs and 0.38 blocks per game.

      Finally, Wemhoff is among the RMAC leaders in digs (5.10 pg) and service aces (36). She is just the third Loper to have back-to-back 500 dig seasons and is on pace to break the UNK career dig mark (2,058/Angie Usher). 

      Heading into the RMAC Tournament, Squiers has a 284-43 mark (157-8 at home) as leader of the Lopers. He also won this award in 2000, 2004 and 2005.

      Fort Lewis middle Nicole Schwab repeated as "Player of the Year" while Metro State's Bri Ostler was the "Defensive Player of the Year." The complete team can be found at: www.rmacsports.org.

     Pictured below are Scott-Svec-Walkowiak-Burson-Clausen-Wemhoff.