Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Berwanger, Brown earn All-MVC honors
11/26/2009 | 12:00:00 | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 26, 2009
www.SIUSalukis.com
OMAHA, Neb. - The 2009 All-Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball teams have been announced with regular-season Valley champion UNI claiming four spots on the first team. League runners-up Missouri State and Wichita State tallied three spots each on the all-conference first team, while Creighton, Illinois State and Southern Illinois each earned one spot apiece. All-conference second team selections and the all-freshman team were also announced. Players received recognition at the pre-tournament banquet held Thursday, Nov. 26, in Omaha, Neb.
All-conference honors are voted on by the league's coaches.
Southern Illinois' junior outside hitter Jennifer Berwanger was named to the All-MVC First Team, while freshman setter Rachael Brown was named to the All-Freshman Team.
Berwanger, a native of Lake Zurich, Ill., earns her second consecutive first team nod, and becomes one of four Salukis in program history to be named to the first team twice. She leads the Salukis' in kills, aces and points, as her 3.46 kills per set ranks No. 3 in the league, as does her 3.86 points per set. Her 3.79 digs per set are the most in the Valley from a non-libero, while her 1,221 career digs ranks third in Southern Illinois' history. Berwanger put up 24 double-figure kill matches in 2009 and 10 kill-dig double-doubles in MVC play. Her 18 kill-dig double-doubles in all matches is the most in the league this season, while Berwanger owns 43 career double-doubles.
Berwanger earned one MVC Player of the Week honor and two MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week awards this season, named to the all-tournament team in all three of the Salukis' non-conference tournaments this season, earning most valuable player honors twice.
Brown ranks third in the league in assists per set, tops among freshmen setters, averaging 10.41 per set in MVC matches, while setting at a .370 percentage during conference contests. The Brownsburg, Ind. native registered 16 matches with 40 or more assists and notched a career-high 55 assists in the Salukis' win over Indiana State (Oct. 23). Brown currently ranks 10th all-time in program history on the single-season assists chart, tallying 1,171 in her freshman campaign. The rookie was named MVC Freshman of the week four times this season named to two all-tournament teams this season.
