Wednesday, February 01, 2012

The Valparaiso volleyball team tied for league-high honors, placing four players on the Academic All-Horizon League team for 2011.  Sophomore Sarah Dooms (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove), redshirt freshman Lindsey Hauch (Coloma, Mich./Coloma), senior Jenny Pokorny (Geneva, Ill./Geneva) and junior Taylor Root (Jenison, Mich./Jenison) all earned the accolade for the combination of their performance on the court and in the classroom.

Dooms finished second on the team in kills and third in digs in 2011, posting 11 matches with double-digit kills and 20 matches with double-digit digs.  The sophomore recorded nine double-doubles on the season with her proficiency on both sides of the ball.  Dooms carries a 3.664 cumulative grade point average as a communication major.

Hauch contributed to the Crusader cause in a myriad of ways in her first season of action, finishing the 2011 campaign second on the team in service aces and fourth in both digs and blocks.  The redshirt freshman tallied at least 10 digs 15 times and picked up her first career double-double at Green Bay, registering a career-best 12 kills to go with 17 digs.  Hauch carries a 3.817 cumulative GPA as a nursing major and has earned Dean’s List honors at Valpo.

Pokorny earned All-Horizon League and AVCA Honorable Mention All-Midwest Region honors for the second straight season for her work as the Crusaders’ setter.  The senior finished fifth in the league in assists and was perhaps the league’s most well-rounded setter, ranking second on the team in hitting percentage and digs, as well as third in blocks.  Pokorny, who owns a 3.385 cumulative GPA as a social work major, has previously been a member of the HL Academic Honor Roll and has received Presidential academic honors during her time at Valpo.

Root repeats on the Academic All-HL squad after being named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year for a second consecutive season.  Also an AVCA All-Midwest Region honoree and an Honorable Mention All-American, the junior broke the Horizon League career digs record in just her third season, closing out the year atop the league in total digs with the third-best single-season total in Crusader history.  Root, who maintains a 3.504 cumulative GPA as an elementary education major, has previously been a member of the HL Academic Honor Roll and has received Presidential academic honors during her time at Valpo.