University of Minnesota Athletics
Gopher Volleyball Celebrates 2016 Season
2/5/2017 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The University of Minnesota volleyball program and their supporters, the Point U! Boosters, gathered Sunday, Feb. 5, at TCF Bank Stadium and celebrated the 2016 season at the end-of-the-year banquet.
After opening remarks from Point U! Boosters president, Katie Harms, senior associate athletics director Julie Manning and head coach Hugh McCutcheon, lunch was served. Moving from the Indoor Club Room to the DQ Clubroom, over 180 joined the team, coaches and staff. Matt Nelson served as the banquet's emcee.
The awards portion kicked off with four Gophers earning their U of M letterjackets: Alexis Hart, Lauren Litzau, Taylor Morgan and Brittany McLean. The Gopher seniors also received their pins and was named an official member of the M Club.
Sarah Wilhite garnered two awards in Most Improved and Most Valuable Player. In her senior season, Wilhite was named the AVCA and ESPNW Player of the Year, Minnesota's first recipient in school history. She also added First Team All-America and Big Ten Player of the Year honors this season after never receiving national or conference awards her previous three seasons. Wilhite had a team-best 537 kills and averaged 4.26 kills per set. Wilhite hit .288 hitting clip, ranked second on the team in digs (327) and aces (29). As a four-time Big Ten Player of the Week and recipient of AVCA National Player of the Week, Wilhite led the Gophers in match kills 27 times and hit over .300 19 times this year. She finished her collegiate season as a member of the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team when she accomplished her 13 double-double of the season, with 25 kills and 13 digs.
Paige Tapp received the Team Academic Award for the second-straight year. The two-time Academic All-American finished her college career with a 3.83 grade point average. Lauren Litzau received the Gold Country Award, which was given to the student-athlete who had the highest GPA last fall. Litzau held a 3.88 GPA during her first Gopher semester.
Katie Schau received the Maurice Batie Award, which goes to the student-athlete who best exemplifies a good teammate. She also received the Point U! Boosters award.
Other awards included the following:
Best Spiker: Sarah Wilhite
Best Blocker: Molly Lohman
Best Passer: Alyssa Goehner & Dalianliz Rosado
Best Digger: Dalianliz Rosado
Best Server: Samantha Seliger-Swenson
Strength and Conditioning Award: Regan Pittman
