Thursday, November 24, 2005 | Volleyball
Stalzer Named Volleyball Player Of The Year
Lindsay Stalzer of Bradley University was named the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year by a vote of the league coaches, as announced the MVC office Thursday evening. Ashley Grubb and Erin Lindsey of Illinois State were named Libero and Freshman of the Year, respectively. Wichita State’s Chris Lamb was named the MVC Coach of the Year for the second-straight season.

Stalzer, a three-time first team member, had a stellar four-year career at Bradley. She is the all-time Valley leader in kills, and established a new league mark for kills in a season. The three-time 2005 Valley Player of the Week leads the conference in kills per game and ranks third nationally. The Kewanne, Ill., product is also first in points per game and second in aces per game. She is one of four players in Valley history with over 1,500 kills, 300 blocks, 500 digs and 100 service aces.

The middle blocker earned all-tournament honors at the Pepsi Challenge, Nike Invitational and Mark Twain Hotel Invite. She broke Bradley’s match record for kills with 36 at DePaul and also set the Braves mark for kills in a three-game match with 29 kills against Butler and Indiana State.

Grubb closed the year first in the league in digs per game and is currently third on the all-time Illinois State dig chart. The Jacksonville, Ill., native tied a Redbird Arena record with 31 digs earlier this year. She posted double-figure digs in 26 of 28 matches this season and totaled 20 or more digs on 12 occasions with a school-record 35 last weekend against Missouri State.

Lindsey tied a league record with her four Freshman of Week certificates this year. The Eureka, Mo., standout finished the season third in the Valley with over 13 assists per game. She consistently ranked among the top 30 setters in the nation with her assists-per-game average. Her regular season assist total is the third-best freshman standard in Redbird history, and the seventh-best overall mark in Illinois State annals.

Lamb guided Wichita State to a 27-2 overall mark and an18-0 ledger in Missouri Valley Conference play. Only one other institution in Valley history has completed a perfect regular season. The Shockers have won a school-record 25-straight matches, the third-best streak in MVC history. During the season, WSU lost just five games in conference play and won 14 matches by the score of 3-0.

Heading into this weekend, the Shockers are just one of 12 Division I teams with two or fewer loses. WSU is currently ranked 23rd in the country, and has been in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 Poll for six-straight weeks.

MVC Player of the Year:Lindsay Stalzer, Bradley
MVC Libero of the Year: Ashley Grubb, Illinois State
MVC Freshman of the Year: Erin Lindsey, Illinois State
MVC Coach of the Year: Chris Lamb, Wichita State
2005-06 VOLLEYBALL
11/29/2005 Missouri State Battles No. 10 Missouri In NCAA Volleyball Championship
11/26/2005 2005 State Farm MVC Volleyball Championship
11/26/2005 No. 1 WSU Into Finals Over No. 4 UNI, 3-1
11/25/2005 No. 4 UNI Upends No. 5 Creighton
11/25/2005 No. 3 Illinois State Tops No. 6 Bradley, 3-0
11/25/2005 No. 2 Missouri State Bests No. 3 Illinois State, 3-1
11/24/2005 Stalzer Named Volleyball Player Of The Year
11/23/2005 2005 MVC All-Conference Volleyball Team Announced
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