3 suburban volleyball stars earn All-Big Ten honors

Three former suburban athletes from the Daily Herald area received top honors Tuesday when they were named to the 2010 All-Big Ten Volleyball Team.

Hillary Haen of Crystal Lake, Colleen Ward of Naperville, and Lexi Zimmerman of Barrington were selected to the All-Big Ten team. Haen and Ward play for Illinois while Zimmerman plays for Michigan.

Zimmerman, who earned the honor for A third time, was a unanimous selection. It is Ward's first all-league honor in the Big Ten, and Haen's second selection.

Here is the official release from the Big Ten:

Penn State and Minnesota claimed individual accolades when the conference office announced on Tuesday its All-Big Ten Teams and award winners.

After clinching an eighth straight Big Ten Championship, Penn State earned three individual awards. Senior Blair Brown was named the conference's Player of the Year, while teammate Deja McClendon was honored as Freshman of the Year. Nittany Lion head coach Russ Rose was named Big Ten Coach of the Year by his peers and the media, while Minnesota junior Jessica Granquist garnered Defensive Player of the Year distinction.

Brown becomes the sixth straight Nittany Lion to win Player of the Year honors, giving the program its 12th overall. The senior won three Big Ten Player of the Week certificates this season and led the Penn State offense with 4.11 kills and 4.73 points per set – both of which ranked second in the conference. In Big Ten matches only, she led the conference in kills (4.43) and points (5.04) per set. She chipped in on the defensive end as well, averaging the second-most digs on the team with 2.23 per set. She was named a unanimous selection to the 2010 All-Big Ten Team, the second time Brown has been selected to the postseason squad.

A Penn State player has been selected Big Ten Freshman of the Year eight of the last nine seasons after the coaches named McClendon the conference's top newcomer. She ranks seventh overall in the conference in hitting percentage (.329) and 10th in kills per set (3.41). The freshman ranks second on the Penn State offense at 3.43 kills per set, while averaging nearly 2.0 digs per set and totaling 64 blocks during the season.

Guiding Penn State to its eighth straight Big Ten title and 14th overall, Rose was named Coach of the Year by his peers for the fourth season in a row and 10th overall, while earning the honor from the media for the sixth straight year and 12th overall. The Nittany Lions finished the 2010 season 26-5, including a 16-4 mark in conference play. Rose has led Penn State to 90 consecutive home victories, which is tied for the longest home-court winning streak in NCAA Division I volleyball history.

Granquist is the sixth Minnesota standout to win Defensive Player of the Year honors in the 10-year history of the award. The junior was the conference's leader in digs in 2010, averaging 5.07 per set, seeing that number increase to 5.22 during Big Ten play, and led a Minnesota defense that held its opponents to .163 hitting this year. The libero was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week three times during the season and helped the Gophers to a 24-8 record and a 14-6 mark in conference action.

Nine conference standouts were named unanimous choices to the 2010 All-Big Ten Team, including Indiana's Ashley Benson, Michigan teammates Alex Hunt and Lexi Zimmerman, Michigan State's Jenilee Rathje, Minnesota's Lauren Gibbemeyer, Northwestern's Sabel Moffett, Penn State's Brown and Arielle Wilson, and Purdue's Jaclyn Hart. Other All-Big Ten honorees include Illinois' Michelle Bartsch, Hillary Haen and Colleen Ward, Minnesota's Granquist, Ohio State's Katie Dull and Penn State's McClendon.

All-Big Ten Volleyball

Player, Year, Pos, Team

Michelle Bartsch, Jr., OPP, ILL

Hillary Haen, Sr., S, ILL

Colleen Ward, Jr., OH, ILL

Ashley Benson, Sr., MB, IND

Alex Hunt, Jr., OH, MICH

Lexi Zimmerman, Sr., S, MICH

Jenilee Rathje, Jr., MB, MSU

Lauren Gibbemeyer, Sr., MH, MINN

Jessica Granquist, Jr., LIB, MINN

Sabel Moffett, Sr., MB, NU)

Katie Dull, Sr., OH, OSU

Blair Brown, Sr., RS, PSU

Deja McClendon, Fr., OH, PSU

Arielle Wilson, Sr., MH, PSU

Jaclyn Hart, Sr., S, PUR

All-Big Ten Honorable Mention

Jordan Haverly, So., OH, IND

Tori Dixon, Fr., OH/MH/OPP, MINN

Naomi Johnson, Sr., MB, NU

Kelli Barhorst, Jr., MB, OSU

Alyssa D'Errico, Sr., LIB, PSU

Alexis Mitchell, So., MH, WIS

All-Freshman Team

Jennifer Bonilla, LIB, ILL

Jennifer Cross, MB, MICH

Tori Dixon, OH/MH/OPP, MINN

Ashley Wittman, OH, MINN

Stephanie Holthus, OH, NU

Deja McClendon, OH, PSU

Catherine Rebarchak, OPP, PUR

Player of the Year: Blair Brown, PSU

Defensive Player of the Year: Jessica Granquist, MINN

Freshman of the Year: Deja McClendon, PSU

Coach of the Year (Coaches and Media): Russ Rose, PSU

Sportsmanship Honorees:

Nicole Kump, ILL; Taylor Wittmer, IND; Mallory Husz, IOWA; Maggie Busch, MICH; Jenilee Rathje, MSU; Mia Tabberson, MINN; Elyse Glab, NU; Sara Mignin, OSU; Fatima Balza, PSU; Jaclyn Hart, PUR; Janelle Gabrielsen, WIS.