Zimmerman Headlines Trio of AVCA Regional Honorees
12/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan freshman setter Lexi Zimmerman(Barrington, Ill./Barrington) was chosen as the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Mid-East Region Freshman of the Year, earning All-Mideast Region honors, while senior outside hitter Katie Bruzdzinski(Naperville, Ill./Naperville North) picked up All-Mideast Region honors for the second year in a row and senior middle blocker Lyndsay Miller(Ida, Mich./Ida) earned honorable mention All-Mideast Region honors, announced Wednesday (Dec. 5).
With their selections, Zimmerman and Bruzdzinski are now eligible for the AVCA All-America team, which will be announced Dec. 12. Erin Moore (2000-03) is the only All-American in program history, earning All-America third team honors in 2003.
Zimmerman led the Big Ten Conference in assists the entire season, setting the Wolverine attack to one of the top five hitting percentages in the conference for most of the season. She earned Big Ten All-Freshman team honors and became the first freshman setter in U-M volleyball history to start a match in the NCAA Tournament. Zimmerman has set the record for most assists by a Wolverine freshman and is poised to break the single-season assists record that has stood for 10 seasons. Zimmerman becomes the first Wolverine ever to earn Region Freshman of the Year honors and just the fourth to earn All-Region honors, joining Bruzdzinski, Moore and fellow setter Linnea Mendoza (1994-97).
Bruzdzinski picks up her second All-Region honor after finishing the 2006 campaign as an honorable mention AVCA All-American. She bettered her numbers from 2006, breaking her own single-season record for kills in 2007 (585), while leading the Big Ten Conference in aces (0.47) and ranking second in the conference in kills (4.68). In her senior campaign, Bruzdzinski broke the Wolverines' all-time record for kills and ascended to third place on the all-time digs and service aces lists. Bruzdzinski was already a unanimous All-Big Ten selection this season.
Miller earned her first AVCA honor after one of her most successful seasons with the Maize and Blue. Miller recorded the most career kills by a U-M middle and climbed to third place on U-M's all-time kills list this season, standing just three blocks shy of breaking U-M's all-time blocks record. The three-time captain tied a career high with 20 kills against Illinois this season, while standing second on the team in hitting percentage and blocks.
The No. 19 Wolverines (24-10) are among the final 16 teams competing in the NCAA Tournament and will take on No. 1 Penn State in the regional semifinal on Friday (Dec. 7) at 7:30 p.m. in State College, Pa.
Mideast Region
Katie Bruzdzinski, Michigan
Brittney Dolgner, Wisconsin
Nicole Fawcett, Penn State
Alisha Glass, Penn State
Melissa Griffin, Ohio
Christa Harmotto, Penn State
Megan Hodge, Penn State
Stephanie Lynch, Purdue
Taylor Reineke, Wisconsin
Ashley Schatzle, Michigan State
Jackie Simpson, Wisconsin
Lexi Zimmerman, Michigan
Region Freshman of the Year: Lexi Zimmerman, Michigan
Honorable Mention:
Brook Dieter, Minnesota
Shelby Heggie, Long Island
Ellen Herman, Ohio
Chelsy Hyser, Northwestern
Lyndsay Miller, Michigan
Jocelyn Wack, Wisconsin
Contact: Richard Retyi (734) 763-4423
