Four Tulane Student-Athletes Named To LSWA Volleyball Team
Dec 23, 2008 | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 23, 2008
NEW ORLEANS - Four Tulane University standouts were named to the 2008 Louisiana Sports Writers Association All-Louisiana Volleyball Teams and the trio of Sara Radosevic, Visnja Djurdjevic and Liz Kritza were named the state's Player, Freshman and Coach of the Year, the LSWA announced Tuesday.
Radosevic, Djurdjevic and senior right-side hitter Bridget Wells were named to the LSWA first-team while senior middle blocker Jen Linder claimed second-team All-Louisiana recognition. The first-team honor was the fourth of Radosevic's career while Wells makes the first-team in 2008 after claiming second-team honors in 2007. Linder also earned all-state recognition for the second consecutive season after claiming first-team honors last year.
In addition, Radosevic repeats as LSWA Player of the Year while Djurdjevic becomes the sixth Green Wave rookie to earn Freshman of the Year honors, joining Shelly Richey in 1990, Alicia Robertson in 1991, Anastasia Kenon in 2001, Kelli Dickson in 2002 and Radosevic in 2005. Kritza, meanwhile, is the third coach in Tulane history to claim LSWA Coach of the Year recognition - joining Kathy Trosclair in 1987 and Betsy Becker in 2003 - and is the only Green Wave coach to earn the honor twice after claiming the distinction in 2007.
Radosevic, who earlier in the year was named Conference USA Player of the Year, first-team All C-USA and to the AVCA All-Midwest Region Team, was named Louisiana Player of the Year after leading the Green Wave points (528.0), kills (456), kills per set (3.62) and service aces (42) while ranking second in digs (327) and digs per set (2.60), and fifth in both blocks (38) and blocks per set (0.44). She was named C-USA Tournament MVP after averaging 3.15 kills and 2.62 digs per set while tallying four block assists and a team-best eight service aces in leading Tulane to its first-ever C-USA Tournament Championship.
She posted 28 double-digit kill matches, including a season-best 25 vs. Western Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 6, and added 16 double-digit dig performances, including a 21-dig effort at Memphis on Oct. 3. Radosevic also tallied 13 kills/digs double-doubles, including a 21-kill, 18-dig effort at Rice (Oct. 24).
In addition, she was named to the all-tournament teams at the BYU Molten Classic on Aug. 30 after averaging 3.91 kills per set and scoring 47.5 points, and the Allstate Sugar Bowl Classic on Sept. 13 after averaging 3.20 kills and 3.50 digs.
Wells claimed all-state honors after ranking second on the team in points (431.0), kills (383), kills per set (3.04) and attack percentage (.278) while sitting third on the team in blocks (91) and blocks per set (0.72). A first-team All C-USA selection in 2008, Wells tallied double-digit kill totals 23 times, including a career-best 22 kills in vs. Northeastern on Sept. 5.
She posted multiple-block outings in 26 matches, including a season-best five against Rice on Sept. 28 and vs. UTEP on Nov. 16. Wells earned a spot on the Paso Robles Marriott Invitational All-Tournament Team after posting 3.80 kills per set, 38 kills and 40.5 points during the tournament. In addition, she was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 22 after averaging 3.92 kills per set while hitting .297 for the week with 51 kills and just seven errors in 111 swings and again on Nov. 17 after averaging 3.67 kills and 1.50 blocks per set while connecting at a .556 clip.
The C-USA Freshman of the Year, second-team All C-USA honoree and AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year, Djurdjevic claimed state rookie honors after ranking third on the team in kills (305), kills per set (2.42), digs (300), digs per set (2.38) and points (356.5), while sitting fourth in aces (25), and sixth in both blocks (49) and blocks per set (0.39).
She was named to the C-USA All-Tournament Team after posting 2.69 kills, 2.23 digs and 0.46 blocks per set while helping lead Tulane to the tourney title. Djurdjevic posted 16 double-digit kill performances, including a career-best 17 at Tulsa on Oct. 10, and tallied 14 double-digit dig outings, including a season-high 16 ups at UAB on Oct. 5 and at Rice on Oct. 24.
Djurdjevic had 11 kills/digs double-doubles in 2008, including a 15-kill, 16-dig performance at Rice on Oct. 24 and was named Allstate Sugar Bowl MVP and Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 15 after averaging 3.40 kills and 3.10 digs during Tulane's 3-0 weekend.
Linder, meanwhile, earned second-team All-Louisiana honors after leading the team in attack percentage (.421), blocks (125) and blocks per set (0.99) while ranking second in aces (32), and fifth in kills (208), kills per set (1.65) and points (311.0). A second-team All-Conference USA honoree, Linder hit .300 or better in 28 of Tulane's 34 matches, including a school-record .909 clip (10-0-11) at SMU on Oct. 12 and a school five-set record .750 mark (12-0-16) at Houston on Oct. 26.
She tallied four double-digit kill performances, including a season-best 12 at Houston on Oct. 26 and had three or more blocks in 19 matches this season, including a season-best seven at UCF on Oct. 31. Linder was named C-USA Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 13 after averaging 2.86 kills, 1.14 blocks and 3.64 points per set, and connected at a .692 clip courtesy of 20 kills and just two errors in 26 swings.
In addition to her state honors, Linder was a second-team All C-USA selection in 2008 and was named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region squad.
Kritza's Coach of the Year trophy is her third of the 2008 season and being named C-USA Co-Coach of the Year and AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year honors. In her fourth season at the helm, Kritza led the Green Wave to a 28-6 overall record, the Conference USA regular-season title with a 15-1 league mark and the C-USA Tournament title with a 3-0 showing in the championship event. The Wave's C-USA tourney title gave Tulane its first-ever trip to the NCAAs where it advanced to the second round with a 3-1 win over Tennessee Tech.
She had the team play one of the toughest schedules in program history, including matches against four teams ranked in the Top 25 at the time of the contest, and led Tulane to a 3-2 win over then-No. 14 Middle Tennessee which marked the first time a Tulane team defeated a ranked team in a decade. Along the way, Tulane set a school record with 17 straight victories and ran its home winning streak to a program-record 24 in a row at Fogelman Arena.
LSU's Elena Martinez and Sam Dabbs were named LSWA Defensive Player and Newcomer of the Year, respectively, and the Tulane trio of Djurdjevic, Radosevic and Wells were joined on the first-team by LSU's Martinez and Britnee Cooper, Yelena Enwere of Northwestern State and Dorbilla Kovaceciv of UNO.
LSU's Dabbs and Kyna Washington claimed second-team all-state honors along with Linder, Lindsey Loyd of UNO, Ena Payne of Southern, Amy Whitehead of Nicholls State and Lindsey Brown of UL-Lafayette.
2008 LOUISIANA SPORTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION HONORS
First-Team All-Louisiana
Britnee Cooper, LSU, MB, Jr.
Visnja Djurdjevic, Tulane, OH, Fr.
Yelena Enwere, Northwestern State, OH, Jr.
Dobrilla Kovacevic, UNO, OH, Sr.
Sara Radosevic, Tulane, OH, Sr.
Bridget Wells, Tulane, RS, Sr.
Elena Martinez, LSU, L, Sr.
Second Team All-Louisiana
Sam Dabbs, LSU, S, Jr.
Jen Linder, Tulane, MB, Sr.
Lindsey Loyd, UNO, OH, Jr.
Ena Payne, Southern, MB, Sr.
Kyna Washington, LSU, OH, Sr.
Amy Whitehead, Nicholls State, S, Jr.
Lindsey Brown, Louisiana-Lafayette, L, So.
Player of The Year: Sara Radosevic, Tulane
Defensive Player of The Year: Elena Martinez, LSU
Freshman of the Year: Visnja Djurdjevic, Tulane
Newcomer of the Year: Sam Dabbs, LSU
Coach of the Year: Liz Kritza, Tulane
