ST. LOUIS -- Missouri State volleyball junior
Cara Hackmann is the Missouri Valley Conference Libero of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year and is joined by sophomores
Kelley Michnowicz and
Calli Norman and senior
Addie Foley on the all-MVC teams, the conference announced Thursday. Hackmann, Michnowicz and Norman all appear on the first team, while Foley is a second-team selection as voted on by the league’s coaches.
Hackmann is the second MSU player to be voted the league’s best defender in the three-year history of the award and is MSU’s first Libero of the Year winner. A second-team all-MVC pick in 2008 and all-freshman team member in 2007, Hackmann’s long list of 2009 honors include four-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week, CVU.com National Player of the Week Oct. 13, MVC Player of the Week Oct. 12, and two-time MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
The Washington, Mo., native set an MVC record with 46 digs in an Oct. 10 match against Evansville, is six digs shy of the school record of 653 in a season, and has locked up MSU’s dig average record with 5.78 per set this year.
Michnowicz jumps to the first team after earning all-freshman honors last season. The right side hitter leads the conference with a .359 hitting percentage in league matches, and averages 2.27 kills, 0.96 digs and 0.97 blocks per set on .321 hitting for the season. Her attack efficiency this year ranks 10th in school history. A native of Belleville, Ill., Michnowicz was the MVC Player of the Week Oct. 6 and ranks eighth in MSU history with a .285 career hitting percentage.
Norman is on the first team for a second straight season and leads the conference with a .362 hitting percentage for the season. The St. Charles, Mo., product tops the Bears with 3.05 kills per set and contributes 0.91 blocks and 3.62 points as well. Norman’s .362 hitting percentage this season ranks fourth in school history, while her career .315 average sits third on that list. She was MVC Player of the Week Sept. 8.
Foley averages 2.75 kills and 2.54 digs per set for the season, and was MSU’s top offensive threat in MVC matches, averaging 3.12 kills per set to go with 2.84 digs. She is one of four players to average at least 3.0 kills and 2.8 digs per set in MVC matches. The Las Vegas native has logged 754 kills and 484 digs in 118 matches over her Missouri State career.
