RELEASED:  Tuesday, November 6, 2007 (Photo courtesy of Jeff Seisser)

UW-Whitewater’s Polk Tops All-WIAC Women’s Volleyball Team; Boudreau Named Coach of the Year

Madison, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Carley Polk was named the Player of the Year to headline the 12 individuals selected to the 2007 All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) Women’s Volleyball Team by the league coaches, while Warhawk head coach Stacy Boudreau was voted the Coach of the Year.

Polk, a senior middle hitter, earned first team status for the second straight year after helping UW-Whitewater to the WIAC regular-season and tournament championships.   She ranks second in the conference with a .324 hitting percentage, sixth with 1.02 blocks per game and ninth with 3.34 kills per game.

Polk has played in 34 of 35 matches and 102 of 128 games this year and tallied double-digits in kills in 18 matches.  She had a career-high 24 kills against Lakeland College on Oct. 13 and a season-best nine blocks at UW-Oshkosh on Oct. 24.  Earlier this season, Polk became the 11th individual in program history to surpass 1,000 career kills and currently has 1,297.

She is the fourth Warhawk women’s volleyball player to earn the conference’s player of the year honor, joining Allison Erickson (2001), Angie Wildish (2002) and Abbie Mueller (2005).

Repeat selections on the All-WIAC first team included:  UW-Oshkosh’s Leah Rosenbaum and Kim Vail and UW-Stevens Point’s Shelly Maus.

Rosenbaum, a senior middle blocker, secured first team laurels for the third consecutive year.  She leads the conference with a .415 hitting percentage and 4.01 kills per game.  Rosenbaum is UW-Oshkosh’s sixth three-time All-WIAC first team selection.  For her career, Rosenbaum has slammed down 1,698 kills and has amassed 510 blocks.  Her kill total ranks third and sixth in school and conference history, respectively.  Her block amount places her fourth in UW-Oshkosh annals. 

Vail, a senior outside hitter, is a two-time first team selection and ranks third in the league with a .319 hitting percentage, 13th with 3.07 kills per game and 14th with 0.83 blocks per game.   Earlier this season, she became the 11th player in school history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau and is ninth all-time in UW-Oshkosh annals with 1,147.

Maus, a senior middle blocker, is the first individual in program history to secure first team status in back-to-back seasons since Mary Miller in 1986-87.  Maus was also an honorable mention choice in 2004 and 2005.   She leads the WIAC with 1.54 blocks per game, while placing second with 3.94 kills per game and fourth with a .287 hitting percentage.   Maus holds the school career kills record with 1,715 and had a career-high 28 kills against UW-Superior on Oct. 5 and Milwaukee School of Engineering on Oct. 27.

Also named to this year’s first team were:  UW-Eau Claire’s Nikki Peterson, UW-La Crosse’s Katelyn Carlson and Brianne Stankus, UW-Oshkosh's Samantha Schmidt, UW-Platteville’s Kelly Laschinger, UW-River Falls’ Kelsey Scheele and UW-Whitewater’s Kate Lazotte.

Individuals receiving honorable mention consisted of:  UW-Eau Claire’s Katie Fox and Emily Haese, UW-La Crosse’s Amber Schoonover, UW-Platteville’s Lisa Bell and Rachel Chapman, UW-Stout’s Maggie Meixl, UW-Superior’s Chelsie Christofferson, Alicia Fairchild and Courtney Stach and UW-Whitewater’s Rebekah Nelson and Abby Schultz.

All-Defensive Team selections included:  UW-Oshkosh’s Samantha Schmidt, UW-Eau Claire’s Heather Harnell, UW-Stout’s Casey Huntoon and UW-Whitewater’s Kristina Conlin.   Schmidt earned all-defensive honors for the third straight year.

UW-Whitewater head coach Stacy Boudreau was voted the league’s Coach of the Year after directing the Warhawks to the WIAC regular-season and tournament titles.   She is in her third year with the program and owns a sterling mark of 106-15 (.876 winning percentage).

Named to the inaugural All-Sportsmanship Team were:  UW-Eau Claire’s Heather Harnell, UW-La Crosse’s Kaci O’Connell, UW-Oshkosh’s Rebecca Masephol, UW-Platteville’s Lynn Schreiner, UW-River Falls’ Nina Cooper, UW-Stevens Point’s Jill Wittmann, UW-Stout’s Maggie Meixl, UW-Superior’s Anne LeBard and UW-Whitewater’s Stephanie Gardon.  The team was selected for individuals that displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the season.  It included one member from each school as selected by that school.

2007 All-WIAC Women’s Volleyball Team
First Team
Name, School, Year, Position, Hometown (High School)
Katelyn Carlson, La Crosse, Senior, Outside Hitter, Rochester, Minn. (Mayo)
Abby Freiborg, Eau Claire, Junior, Outside Hitter, Sacred Heart, Minn. (Renville County West)
Kelly Laschinger, Platteville, Senior, Setter, Verona
Kate Lazotte, Whitewater, Senior, Setter, Stoughton
Shelly Maus, Stevens Point, Senior, Middle Blocker, Green Bay (Southwest)
Nikki Peterson, Eau Claire, Senior, Outside Hitter, North St. Paul, Minn. (North)
Carley Polk, Whitewater, Senior, Middle Hitter, Dousman (Mukwonago)
Leah Rosenbaum, Oshkosh, Senior, Middle Blocker, Wrightstown
Kelsey Scheele, River Falls, Sophomore, Outside Hitter, Norwood, Minn. (Mayer Lutheran)
Samantha Schmidt, Oshkosh, Junior, Libero, Waupun
Brianne Stankus, La Crosse, Sophomore, Outside Hitter, Burlington
Kim Vail, Oshkosh, Senior, Outside Hitter, Madison (Memorial)

Honorable Mention
Lisa Bell, Platteville, Sophomore, Middle Hitter, Dyersville, Iowa (Beckman)
Rachel Chapman, Platteville, Junior, Outside Hitter, Endeavor (Portage)
Chelsie Christofferson, Superior, Sophomore, Outside Hitter, Buffalo Point, Manitoba
Alicia Fairchild, Superior, Senior, Setter, Bemidji, Minn.
Katie Fox, Eau Claire, Junior, Middle Blocker, Chippewa Falls (Chi-Hi)
Emily Haese, Eau Claire, Junior, Setter, Mishicot
Maggie Meixl, Stout, Junior, Middle Hitter, Mankato, Minn. (West)
Rebekah Nelson, Whitewater, Senior, Outside Hitter, Delavan (Williams Bay)
Amber Schoonover, La Crosse, Junior, Outside Hitter, Tomah
Abby Schultz, Whitewater, Senior, Outside Hitter, Appleton (Kimberly)
Courtney Stach, Superior, Senior, Outside Hitter, Bertha, Minn.

All-Defensive Team
Kristina Conlin, Whitewater, Sophomore, Libero, Williams Bay
Heather Harnell, Eau Claire, Senior, Libero, Minnetonka, Minn.
Casey Huntoon, Stout, Senior, Libero, Mantorville, Minn. (Byron)
Samantha Schmidt, Oshkosh, Junior, Libero, Waupun

All-Sportsmanship Team
Nina Cooper, River Falls, Junior, Outside Hitter, St. Croix Falls
Stephanie Gardon, Whitewater, Junior, Outside Hitter, West Bend (West)
Heather Harnell, Eau Claire, Senior, Libero, Minnetonka, Minn.
Anne LeBard, Superior, Senior, Outside Hitter, Superior
Rebecca Masephol, Oshkosh, Senior, Outside Hitter, Pittsville (Auburndale)
Maggie Meixl, Stout, Junior, Middle Hitter, Mankato, Minn. (West)
Kaci O’Connell, La Crosse, Senior, Middle Hitter, Chippewa Falls (McDonell Central)
Lynn Schreiner, Platteville, Senior, Outside Hitter, Athens
Jill Wittmann, Stevens Point, Senior, Outside Hitter/Setter, Kewaskum

Player of the Year:  Carley Polk of Whitewater
Judy Kruckman Co-Scholar-Athletes:  Shelly Maus of Stevens Point and Rebekah Nelson of Whitewater
Coach of the Year:  Stacy Boudreau of Whitewater