University of Minnesota Athletics
Two Gophers Receive All-America Honors
12/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Minnesota volleyball program had two players receive AVCA All-American honors on Wednesday, Dec. 16, as junior middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer was named to the First-Team and senior setter Taylor Carico received third-team honors.
Gibbemeyer joins Kelly Bowman, Cassie Busse, Paula Gentil, Katrien DeDecker and Jill Halsted as one of only six Golden Gophers to claim First-Team All-America honors. Gibbemeyer and Halsted are the only two middle blockers in the history of the program to claim first-team All-America accolades.
There were only three middle blockers named to the first-team including Gibbemeyer. She was joined by LSU's Brittnee Cooper and Penn State's Arielle Wilson. Gibbemeyer was also named a Third-Team All-American in 2008. Gibbemeyer joins Busse (2002 & 2003), Gentil (2002-04), Nicole Branagh (1999 & 2000) and Jill Halsted (1981 & 82) as one of only five players to receive multiple All-American honors.
Entering the National Semifinals, Gibbemeyer is one of two players in the nation to be in the top 12 nationally in both hitting percentage and blocks. She is currently 11th in both categories. Gibbemeyer is also third in the conference in hitting percentage (.393), third in blocks (1.45 blps), seventh in points (4.25 pps) and ninth in kills (3.33 kps).
In conference play, she finished second in the Big Ten in hitting percentage (.399), fourth in blocks (1.43 blps) and fourth in points. Gibbemeyer was the only player in the Big Ten to be in the top five in all four categories.
Last week, Gibbemeyer also broke the single-season school-record in blocks by moving her total to 181 for the season. Earlier in the month, Gibbemeyer broke the block assists record, and has 161 block assists on the season. She is currently third on the single-season list in hitting percentage (.393). Gibbemeyer is also second on the school’s career hitting percentage list at .329, fifth in blocks with 477 and 16th in kills at 1,137.
Carico was also named an All-American for the second time in her career. She received second-team honors at USC in 2007, and claimed third-team honors this year. On Dec. 17, Carico will become the first Division I setter to start for two different programs in the National Semifinals. She was also named CVU.com National Player of the Week for Dec. 15, based on her performance as part of the Minneapolis Region's All-Tournament team. In the regional round, Carico averaged 2.50 kps, 11.38 aps, 3.12 dps, hit .531 and had 0.75 blps.
On the season, Carico has 10.70 aps, 2.51 dps, 1.05 kps and 0.71 blps. She is currently fourth in the Big Ten in assists per set at 10.70 aps, and finished second in the Big in assists per set at 11.08 aps. Carico is also third on the team in digs, blocks and is tied for second in service aces.
Heading into the National Semifinals, she is averaging 1.80 kps, 12.67 aps, 2.93 dps and 0.87 blps in four NCAA Tournament matches. Carico is tied for third in assists in NCAA Tournament play. She has also tallied 5,278 assists in her career heading into the week, including 1,177 this year and 4,101 in three years at USC.
