LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov.
28, 2007) – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) is pleased to
announce that University of Minnesota Duluth senior right side/opposite hitter
Vicky Braegelmann has been named 2007 Division II AVCA National Player of the
Year. Braegelmann becomes just the third back-to-back winner of this award at
the Division II level, as she shared the honor with Li YiZhi of Lock Haven
University a year ago.
Braegelmann,
a native of Albany, Minn., was dominant in leading Minnesota Duluth to another
stellar season in 2007, as they posted a 29-2 overall record. The Bulldogs were
ranked in the top four in the CSTV/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll all
season, including two weeks as the nation’s top team. In her four seasons on
the Duluth campus, Braegelmann’s Bulldog teams went 114-16, for an incredible
.877 winning percentage, including two trips to the national semifinals.
UMD rolled through the North
Central Conference again this season, going undefeated for the second
consecutive year. The Bulldogs have now won the NCC crown each of the last four
years with Braegelmann on the squad, and she was named Player of the Year in the
conference for the third time in 2007, the first player in conference history to
accomplish that feat.
Braegelmann led the
conference in kills per game, and was second in hitting percentage and points
per game. She closed out her career as the leader at UMD in kills and hitting
percentage, and she ranked among the nation’s elite in both of those categories
this season as well.
In addition to being named
AVCA Division II National Player of the Year, Braegelmann is a four-time AVCA
First-Team All-American, only the second player to earn four first-team
accolades in the 27-year history of the AVCA Division II All-America program.
Portland State University’s Lynda Johnson was the first, garnering first-team
honors from 1982-1985.
Last season, Braegelmann
became the first female athlete in Minnesota Duluth athletics history to be
named National Player of the Year, as well as the first NCAA Division II athlete
in Minnesota Duluth athletics history to be named National Player of the Year in
any sport.
The formal presentation of
the 2007 AVCA Division II National Player of the Year will be made Dec. 14 in
Sacramento, Calif., at the AVCA All-America/Players of the Year Banquet. The
banquet, which will take place at the Sacramento Convention Center, is held in
conjunction with the 2007 AVCA Annual Convention.
Division II AVCA National Players of the Year
2007: Vicky Braegelmann, Minnesota Duluth
2006: Vicky
Braegelmann, Minnesota Duluth; Li YiZhi, Lock Haven
2005: Erin Gudmundson, University of Nebraska at Kearney
2004: Brianna Harris, Cal State, San Bernardino
2003: Kim Morohunfola, Cal State, San Bernardino
2002: Erin Deffenbaugh, Northern Colorado
2001: Shauna Sturm, South Dakota State
2000: Kari Peterson, Augustana (S.D.)
1999: Sarah Butler, West Texas A&M
1998: Melinda Almazan, Regis
1997: Sarah Butler, West Texas A&M
1996: Liu Jun, Northern Michigan
1995: Liu Jun, Northern Michigan
1994: Christy Wieneke, Cal State Bakersfield
1993: Stacey Metro, Northern Michigan
1992: Stacey Metro, Northern Michigan
1991: Ana Cristina Pereira, West Texas A&M
1990: Becky Belland, Central Missouri State
1989: Sheri Benson, UC Riverside
1988: Janet Cobbs, North Dakota State
1987: Angela Brinton, Cal State-Northridge
1986: Annie Kniss, UC Riverside
1985: Lynda Johnson, Portland State
Braegelmann,
a native of Albany, Minn., was dominant in leading Minnesota Duluth to another
stellar season in 2007, as they posted a 29-2 overall record. The Bulldogs were
ranked in the top four in the CSTV/AVCA Division II Coaches Top 25 Poll all
season, including two weeks as the nation’s top team. In her four seasons on
the Duluth campus, Braegelmann’s Bulldog teams went 114-16, for an incredible
.877 winning percentage, including two trips to the national semifinals.