BATON ROUGE — LSU head coach Fran Flory and middle blocker Ivana Kuzmic took home the state’s top volleyball honors, being named the Coach and Player of the Year respectively, as the Louisiana Sports Writer’s Association named the 12-member All-Louisiana team on Sunday.
In addition, Louisiana-Monroe’s Sei Hee Hwang was named the Louisiana Newcomer of the Year after transferring from Wayne State, and Tulane’s Sara Radosevic earned Freshman of the Year honors.
The LSWA All-Louisiana volleyball team was selected by sports information representatives from the state’s 14 volleyball-playing institutions from nominations submitted by the volleyball contacts at those schools. The two six-member teams with honorable mention selection were chose regardless of position.
Along with Player of the Year honors, Kuzmic headlined the All-Louisiana first team. Joining her on the first team were Radosevic, Jelena Mijatovic and Marina Skender from LSU, Shannon Phillips of Louisiana Tech and Marquita Williams of McNeese State.
A member of the All-Louisiana second team, Hwang is joined by Flavia Belo of Northwestern State, Kelli Dickson of Tulane, Megan Gloor of ULM, Keri Hamblin of Southeastern Louisiana and Trisha Seale of McNeese State.
Receiving honorable mention honors were Danielle Bochat of Centenary, Luna Rebrovic of Tulane, Jessica Strama of McNeese State, Kyna Washington of LSU and Brittany Winters of Louisiana-Monroe.
Despite traveling over 14,000 miles without ever leaving the southeastern United States this season, which is the equivalent of traveling one and a half times around the earth from Baton Rouge, Flory guided LSU to one of its most successful season in two decades. The Tigers won their first Southeastern Conference Western Division championship and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992.
After Hurricane Katrina turned the Maravich Center into the largest field hospital in the U.S., the volleyball team played their first 17 matches on the road. LSU went on to finish the season at 21-8 overall and 11-5 in the league, which was the most wins by a Tiger team since 1993 and the most SEC wins since 1992, while going 6-0 at home.
A senior from Split, Croatia, Kuzmic led the Tigers and ranked sixth in the NCAA with 1.72 blocks per game. An AVCA honorable mention All-American and All-South Region selection, she became the first player in an LSU uniform to record over 700 career blocks. In addition, the first-team All-SEC selection posted four double-figure blocking matches in back-to-back season, becoming the first Tiger to accomplish that feat since 1985-86. Against Campbell earlier this season, she recorded the 22nd best hitting percentage in NCAA history, posting a .923 mark.
An honorable mention AVCA All-American and the AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year, Radosevic led the Green Wave and ranked ninth in the NCAA with 5.24 kills per game and the best among freshmen. The second-team All-Conference USA selection also led Tulane with 36 service aces while recording double-figure digs in seven matches. On six occasions, the outside hitter from Zagreb, Croatia, recorded a .300 hitting percentage or better with a season-best .413 mark against Houston.
A transfer from Wayne State, Hwang broke the Louisiana-Monroe record for digs in a season, posting 547 in her only year with the Lady Indians. The libero from Toronto, Canada, ranked second in the Southland Conference in digs per game, recording a career-best 32 against UAB. An honorable mention All-SLC selection and the Southland Conference Newcomer of the Year, she native finished with 15 or more digs in 18 of ULM’s 31 matches and posted 20 or more digs in 14 matches.
After leading the SEC in service aces for two-straight years, Mijatovic earned second-team All-SEC honors. Ranked seventh in the SEC in kills per game, she posted her 1,300th career kills in 2005. The senior outside hitter from Belgrade, Serbia, ranks 10th all-time in service aces in NCAA history and holds the LSU career aces per game record. Posting 11 double-doubles, she recorded double-figure kills in 24 of LSU’s 29 matches, including nine 20-plus kill matches.
Phillips ranked second on the Lady Techster team in kills with a 3.15 kill per game average. In addition, she recorded 115 blocks, which ranked second on the team, while hitting at a .230 clip. On two occasions she had 20-plus kills in a match and she recorded a pair of double-doubles on the season. The sophomore middle blocker from Rowlett, Texas, tied her career-high twice with seven blocks against UL-Lafayette and Fresno State.
The SEC Freshman of the Year, Skender was a four-time SEC Freshman of the Week selection and earned SEC Player of the Week honors once. The right side hitter from Zagreb, Croatia, ranked in the top 10 in the SEC in hitting percentage and ranked second on the team in service aces. A second-team All-SEC selection and All-SEC Freshman team honoree, she recorded five double-doubles and posted 10 or more kills in 14 matches.
Leading the Southland Conference with a .350 hitting percentage, Williams earned first-team All-SLC honors. In addition, the middle blocker from Baton Rouge led the Cowgirls with 363 kills and 95 blocks. She ranked among the leaders in the league in kills, blocks and points. In 19 matches, she recorded double-figure kills and posted a career-best 10 blocks against Sam Houston.