Mount’s Jamie Grauvogel Named HCAC Volleyball MVP

GREENWOOD, IN – Mount St. Joseph’s Jamie Grauvogel (Cleves, Ohio/Harrison) has been selected as the 2010 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference volleyball Most Valuable Player.  Grauvogel helped guide the Lions to a share of the HCAC championship and the school’s 11^th tournament title with an 8-1 mark against conference opponents.

Defiance College’s Chelsea Ludeman (Napoleon, Ohio/H.S.) has been honored as the 2010 HCAC Freshman of the Year, Transylvania University’s Sarah Sams (Lexington, Ky./Dunbar) claimed the 2010 Defensive Most Valuable Player honor, and Transylvania head coach Casey Dale picked up his first HCAC Coach of Year Award.

Grauvogel has played in 118 games for the Lions on the year and averaged a league-high 4.64 kills per set.  The senior has posted a .295 hitting percentage and added 41 service aces, 2.12 digs per set and 67 total blocks during the Mount’s 32 matches.  The Cleves, Ohio native averaged 4.82 kills and 2.12 digs per set during conference matches this season.

Sams, the Pioneers’ senior libero, was the backbone of the Transylvania defense all season.  She led the team with a 3.47 digs per set average during conference play and posted a 4.03 average in all contests.  During Transylvania’s 34 matches, Sams totaled 496 digs on the year.

Defiance’s Chelsea Ludeman averaged 2.81 kills per set, 1.35 digs per set, and added 86 total blocks in her first collegiate season.  She tallied 323 total kills, ranking sixth in the conference in that category.  Ludeman was seventh in the conference in kills during conference play, averaging 2.73 per set.

Dale guided the Pioneers to their first HCAC title this season.  Transylvania fell to Mount St. Joseph in the conference tournament championship match, missing a chance to play in the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time in school history.  He led Transy to a 26-8 mark this season, setting a school record for wins in a single season.

Joining Grauvogel, Sams, and Ludeman as a member of the All-HCAC squad are Anderson University’s Tayler Stone (Fr., Muncie, Ind.), Bluffton University’s Shauna Rowland (Sr., Bucyrus, Ohio) and Courtney Zimmerman (Jr., Leesburg, Ohio), Defiance College’s Marlea Rolander (Jr., Napoleon, Ohio), Hanover College’s Rachel Kloentrup (Sr., Morning View, Ky.) and Abby Merritt (Jr., Indianapolis, Ind.), Mount St. Joseph’s Jaclyn Stenger (So., Cincinnati, Ohio) and Lyndsey Waldman (Sr., Batavia, Ohio), Rose-Hulman’s Anna Lewer (So., Indianapolis, Ind.) and Karah Hickman (Jr., Hobart, Ind.), and Transylvania University’s Jordan Geisen (Sr., Florence, Ky.), Rebecca Luking (Jr., Louisville, Ky.), and Katie Ash (Fr., Louisville, Ky.).

All-HCAC

All-Freshman Team

Honorable Mention All-HCAC