2003 MIAC Volleyball Awards

| 2003 MIAC All-Conference Volleyball Team and Postseason Awards |

Four Cobbers Earn MIAC Postseason Honors

The quartet of Cobbers that earned MIAC Postseason honors. Back row (L-R) Amy Fitzner earned All-MIAC honors for the 2nd straight year; Rebecca Shane was named the MIAC Rookie of the Year; Jacki Barten won all-conference honors for the 3rd consecutive season. Front row - Jessica Walden set the school record in assists in a career and was named All-MIAC for the 2nd straight year.

(St. Paul, Minn.)-- Four Concordia women's volleyball players earned league postseason honors. Jacki Barten (Jr., Melrose, Minn./Melrose HS), Amy Fitzner (Jr., Valley City, N.Dak./Valley City HS) and Jessica Walden (Jr. Hawley, Minn./Hawley HS) were all named to the MIAC All-Conference First team and Rebecca Shane (Fr., Detroit Lakes, Minn./Detroit Lakes HS) was named Rookie of the Year. It is the third consecutive year that Barten was named to the all-conference team. Fitzner and Walden are both repeat all-conference award winners.

Barten finished the regular season with a team-high 396 kills, a .331 hitting percentage and 132 blocks. It is the third straight year that she has led the Cobbers in both categories. Barten also finished second in the league in hitting percentage (.334), fifth in blocks (1.15/game) and eighth in kills (3.76/game). She was named the MIAC Hitter of the Week on October 27 after she was named the MVP of the Saint Benedict Tournament and also helped push Concordia to the brink of beating MIAC regular season champion St. Thomas. Barten now has 984 career kills which places her sixth on the school's all-time list. She also has amassed 355 blocks in her three years which is tied for second on the school's all-time chart.

Fitzner led the Cobbers in kills during the MIAC season by averaging 4.03 per game. She was fifth in the league in that category. For the entire season, she finished third on the team in kills (278) and third in digs (264). Like Barten, she was named the MIAC Hitter of the Week once during the season. Fitzner won the award on October 21 following a week in which she helped lead Concordia to three key MIAC wins. In the trio of victories over St. Catherine's (3-0), Gustavus (3-1) and Carleton (3-1), she average 5.3 kills per game and 4.1 digs per game. She led Concordia in kills all three matches. That string of matches came during a longer streak where Fitzner single-handedly carried the weight of the Cobber frontline. In an eight match span, she led the team in kills seven times and helped the Cobbers clinch a spot in the playoffs.

Walden's biggest achievement this season was breaking the school record for assists in a career. In less than three seasons, she has posted 3,087 assists. She finished the regular season with 978, her second highest total of her career. She was second in the league in assists with a 12.30 assist per game average. She was named the MIAC Setter/Defensive Player of the Week three times this season and six times during her career. She was the leader of the Cobber offense that finished second in the league in hitting percentage (.238), kills (15.27/game) and assists (13.34/game).

Shane made a huge impact on the Concordia offense by giving the team a dangerous third option. She finished second on the team in kills (318), hitting percentage (.286) and blocks (112). She was also named the MIAC Hitter of the Week, giving the team four different players to earn MIAC Player of the Week honors in a single season. She won the award after helping Concordia secure second place in the MIAC by beating St. Ben's in the last regular season game of the year. She hit a match-high .432, recorded a team-high 17 kills,  made only one error at the net and collected 6 blocks.

 

First Team All-MIAC
Amie Lee Aschenbeck  St. Thomas   Middle Blocker  Junior
Jacki Barten         Concordia    Middle Hitter   Junior
Rachel Batalden      Gustavus     Setter          Junior
Carley Bomstad       Macalester   Middle Hitter   Senior
Emily Buehler        St. Thomas   Outside Hitter  Senior
Lizzy Erickson       Carleton     Middle Hitter   Senior
Danica Finseth       St. Olaf     Middle Hitter   Sophomore
Amy Fitzner          Concordia    Outside Hitter  Junior
Laura Fleischman     Hamline      Outside Hitter  Senior
Katie Freeman        Carleton     Outside Hitter  Junior
Angie Frenell        Bethel       Middle Hitter   Senior
Jane Gibbs           St. Thomas   Setter          Senior
Tracey Koertgen      Saint Maryâs Outside Hitter  Junior
Claire Loesch        Saint Ben's  Middle Hitter   Junior
Kristin Stoneberg    Bethel       Outside Hitter  Senior
Tessa Stranik        Saint Maryâs Setter          Junior
Jessica Walden       Concordia    Setter          Junior
Kristin Wolford      Saint Ben's  Outside Hitter  Senior

MVP - Jane Gibbs, St. Thomas
Defender of the Year - May Lin Kessenich, Macalester
Rookie of the Year - Rebecca Shane, Concordia
Coach of the Year - Heidi Luehmann-Jaynes, Carleton
 
 

This page is maintained by the Concordia Sports Information Office  | sid@cord.edu |