LINCOLN — Among the advantages the Nebraska volleyball program will gain when the Huskers move to the Devaney Center in a couple years will be more space to honor the program's impressive list of All-Americans.
That class grew by four Wednesday when the American Volleyball Coaches Association named a quartet of Huskers to its All-America teams, headlined by junior outside hitter Gina Mancuso, who was named to the 14-member first team for the first time in her career.
Junior outside hitter Hannah Werth, sophomore right-side hitter Morgan Broekhuis and junior setter Lauren Cook were named honorable mention All-Americans by the AVCA.
Mancuso, a Papillion-La Vista graduate, stepped into the lead attacker role for Nebraska in 2011 and led the team with 3.60 kills per set and averaged 2.66 digs per set on her way to 11 double-doubles. She was named the Big Ten Conference player of the week twice this season and notched a career-best 25 kills in NU’s season-ending loss to Kansas State in the NCAA tournament.
Mancuso becomes the latest addition to Nebraska’s decorated outside hitter tradition. Since 1996, 24 Husker outside hitters have been named to one of the All-America teams.
Werth was also among the team leaders in kills and digs, producing 11 double-doubles. Her 2.80 kills per set were third on the team, while she was second behind libero Lara Dykstra with 3.11 digs per set. It marks the second time the Springfield, Ill., native has earned All-America honors after being named to the second team last year.
Broekhuis and Cook each had breakout seasons in their first year as full-time starters. Broekhuis, a 6-5 left-hander, became NU’s primary right-side hitter and was second on the team with 3.04 kills per set. The sophomore from Colorado Springs, Colo., had double-digit kills in 19 matches, including a career-high 21 in a win at Michigan on Oct. 1.
Cook, a junior setter from Lincoln, led Nebraska to a Big Ten-best .266 attack percentage and averaged 11.03 assists per set. It is the second AVCA postseason recognition Cook has received after being named national freshman of the year in 2009 while at UCLA.
The honorees add to Nebraska’s nation-leading total of All-Americans, bringing the tally to 71. At least one Husker has been named an All-American in 30 consecutive seasons, including 36 in John Cook’s 12 years as head coach.
Four Iowa State players earned All-America nods Wednesday, including Millard North graduate Carly Jenson. The senior outside hitter was named to the second team after leading the Cyclones with 3.86 kills per set.
ISU junior setter Alison Landwehr became just the third Cyclone to be named a first-team All-American after leading the Big 12 with 11. 46 assists per set.
Iowa State middle blocker Jamie Straube, a Tecumseh, Neb., native, joined libero Kristen Hahn in earning honorable mention honors.
The Cyclones ended the season just shy of the school’s first final four berth, falling in five sets to Florida State in the Minneapolis Regional final.
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
RSS Feeds