|
Vander Kooi Named GPAC Player Of The Week
Nelson Named Libero Of The Week
Vander Kooi Named National Player Of The Week
Tjaden Repeats As Setter Of The Week
Tjaden Named GPAC Setter Of The Week
 |
 |
 |
Emily Christen |
Jessica Tjaden |
Jamie Vander Kooi |
Morningside College’s Emily Christen, Jessica Tjaden, and Jamie Vander Kooi, have been named to the 2009 All-Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball First-Team as selected by the league’s head coaches.
Christen, a 6-0 senior middle blocker from Anselmo, Neb., is the Mustangs’ top defensive presence at the net with 56 solo blocks and 78 block assists for an average of 1.02 blocks per game. Her 56 solo blocks is the second highest single-season total in Morningside history. Christen also leads the Mustangs with a .339 hitting percentage. She ranks second on the team with 369 kills for an average of 2.80 per game and is third on the team with 26 ace serves.
Tjaden, a 5-8 senior setter from Julesburg, Colo., has dealt 1,453 assists for an average of 11.09 per game and has ranked among the NAIA national leaders throughout the season. She leads the Mustangs with 59 ace serves for an average of 0.45 per game and has 430 digs for an average of 3.28 per contest. Tjaden’s 59 ace serves is the seventh highest single-season total in Morningside history and her 1,453 assists is the 10th highest total in the Mustangs’ annals.
Vander Kooi, a 5-9 senior outside hitter from Hinton, Iowa, is the big hitter in the Mustangs’ attack with a team-high 449 kills for an average of 3.62 per game. She ranks second on the team with 489 digs for an average of 3.94 per game and with 34 ace serves. Her 489 digs is the third highest single-season total in Morningside history by a non-libero. Vander Kooi had 24 digs in the Mustangs’ 3-0 sweep of the University of Sioux Falls on Oct. 3 to set a Morningside three-game match record by a non-libero. She leads the Mustangs with 24 double figure kill performances and with 18 kill/dig double-doubles.
In addition to their three first-team selections, the Mustangs’ Liz Sutherland, a 6-2 sophomore middle blocker from Sioux City, was named to the All-GPAC Second-Team. Sutherland has 222 kills for an average of 1.79 per game and ranks second on the team in blocks with 44 solos and 81 assists for an average of 1.01 blocks per game. Her 44 solo blocks is the seventh highest single-season total in Morningside history.
The Mustangs’ Amanda Nelson, a 5-5 senior defensive specialist from Wakefield, Neb., was named to the All-GPAC honorable mention list. Nelson leads the Mustangs with 563 digs for an average of 4.27 per game as the team’s libero. She set a Morningside three-game match record when she came up with 30 digs in the Mustangs’ 3-0 sweep of Sioux Falls on Oct. 3. Nelson ranks fourth on the team with 22 ace serves.
Morningside has a 31-7 record and will compete in the NAIA Volleyball National Championships on Dec. 1-5 in Sioux City’s Tyson Events Center/Gateway Arena. The Mustangs finished second in the GPAC regular season standings with a 13-3 league record.
Click here for the complete 2009 All-GPAC Volleyball Team.
 Jamie Vander Kooi, a 5-9 senior outside hitter from Hinton, Iowa, has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball Player of the Week for her performance in the Mustangs 3-0 sweep of Dana College in last Saturday’s GPAC Tournament Quarterfinals.
Vander Kooi slammed 13 kills and had only one attack error in 22 attempts for a .545 hitting percentage. She had more kills than the entire Dana team, which had just 11 kills in the 25-10, 25-5, 25-11 Morningside victory. Vander Kooi also had five digs, one solo block, and one block assist in the contest.
Vander Kooi is averaging a team-high 3.67 kills per game this season and ranks second on the Mustangs with an average of 3.97 digs per game. She has completed 94.8 percent of her serve attempts and ranks second on the team with 33 ace serves.
 Amanda Nelson, a 5-5 senior defensive specialist from Wakefield, Neb., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Libero of the Week for Oct. 5-11.
Nelson averaged 5.67 digs per game in Morningside victories against Dana College and Briar Cliff University. She was also perfect on serve reception and service attempts in the two matches.
She had 25 digs to help lead Morningside to a 3-0 sweep of Briar Cliff last Saturday for the Mustangs’ second highest dig total of the season in a three-game match.
 |
 |
Jamie Vander Kooi |
Jessica Tjaden |
Jamie Vander Kooi, a 5-9 senior outside hitter from Hinton, Iowa, has been named the NAIA National Volleyball Player of the Week and the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball Player of the Week for Sept. 28 to Oct. 4.
In addition to Vander Kooi, the Mustangs’ Jessica Tjaden, a 5-8 junior setter from Julesburg, Colo., is this week’s GPAC Setter of the Week.
Vander Kooi averaged 4.50 kills and 4.67 digs per game in the Mustangs’ victories against 15th-ranked Bellevue University, Dakota Wesleyan University, and the University of Sioux Falls as the 14th-ranked Mustangs improved their record to 24-2. She slammed 26 kills for the Mustangs’ top individual total of the season to lead Morningside to a 3-2 win at Bellevue and had a season’s high 24 digs to set a Morningside three-game match record by a non-libero in a 3-0 win against Sioux Falls.
Vander Kooi is averaging a team-high 3.82 kills and 4.22 digs per game and leads the Mustangs with 17 double figure kill performances and 14 kill/dig double-doubles.
Tjaden averaged 12.08 assists and 3.42 digs per game in the Mustangs’ three victories. She contributed 58 assists and 16 digs in the Mustangs’ win at Bellevue.
Tjaden received the GPAC Setter of the Week honor for the third time this season.
 Jessica Tjaden, a 5-8 junior setter from Julesburg, Colo., is the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Setter of the Week for the second week in a row.
Tjaden averaged 11.45 assists per game to help lead the Mustangs to four victories in their five matches last week. She also had 60 digs for an average of 3.00 per game.
She had season’s highs of 61 assists and 22 digs to go along with three ace serves when the Mustangs defeated Black Hills State University 3-2 at last weekend’s Hastings College Tournament as the Mustangs avenged a loss against the Yellow Jackets at the 2008 NAIA National Tournament.
Jessica Tjaden, a 5-8 junior setter from Julesburg, Colo., has been named the Hauff Mid-America Sports/Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball Setter of the Week after she helped lead the Mustangs to four victories in as many matches at last weekend’s College of Saint Mary Classic in Omaha, Neb.
Tjaden dealt 156 assists for an average of 13.0 per game in the Mustangs’ 3-0 wins against Haskell Indian Nations University, College of Saint Mary, Hannibal-LaGrange College, and Tabor College. She had a season’s high 44 assists in the win against College of Saint Mary.
Her statistics also included 10 ace serves and 42 digs for an average of 3.50 digs per contest. Tjaden had a season’s high 13 digs in the win against College of Saint Mary and had a season’s high seven ace serves against Haskell Indian Nations.
|
