News release date: November 7, 2001
Whitman's Huber Earns Second All-NWC Volleyball Honor
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Jill Huber, a Whitman College
sophomore, has earned All-Northwest Conference volleyball honors
for the second time in two seasons.
Huber, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker from Enumclaw, Wash., was
named to the All-NWC Second Team for a second straight year.
As she did a year ago, Huber finished among the conference
leaders in a number of categories, finishing fourth in both kills
(3.86 per game) and service aces (.47 per game). She was fifth in
blocks (.87 per game) and sixth in hitting percentage (.272).
Huber's numbers in kills, service aces and hitting percentage
were all higher than what she posted in her first collegiate
season.
Huber, who made the all-tournament team in Whitman's
season-opening Holiday Inn Express Invitational, was the dominant
player in several matches during the fall season:
In five games against Kalamazoo College, she hit .395
while collecting a match-high 23 kills to go with 11 digs, eight
blocks and four service aces.
In four games against McMurry University, Huber combined
22 kills with 18 digs, six block and four services aces.
In five games against George Fox University, she sparked a
Missionary victory with 20 kills, 21 digs, six service aces, and
four blocks.
In a five-game win over Pacific Lutheran University,
she hit .378 with a team-high 18 kills. Later in the season, in a
four-game loss to Pacific Lutheran, she contributed a match-high
20 kills while hitting .447 and adding 12 digs and three
blocks.
In three games against Pacific University, Huber helped
key a Whitman victory by slamming 14 kills while hitting .540
with just one attack error. She added nine digs and two service
aces.
While Huber was the only Missionary named to the All-NWC team,
she wasn't the only Whitman player who finished among the
conference leaders in various statistical categories.
Claire Novotny, a 5-foot-7 senior setter from Boulder,
Colo., averaged 10.76 assists per game, the fourth-best mark in
the nine-school conference. Novotny was No. 11 in service aces,
averaging .40 aces per game. She also contributed to Whitman's
defense with 191 digs, the third highest total on the squad.
In a five-game victory over George Fox University, Novotny
handed out a season-high 62 assists. Only one other setter in the
NWC had a higher single-match assist total during the season.
Novotny's senior campaign marked the second consecutive season
she averaged in double digits in assists. Last year as a junior,
she handed out 10.29 assists per game.
Denise Kirstein, a 5-foot-8 sophomore outside hitter
from Spokane, Wash., finished third in digs in the NWC, averaging
4.34 per game.
In a three-game victory over Wisconsin Lutheran, Kirstein
collected 25 digs, the highest three-game match total recorded by
a NWC player during the season. She added to that victory with 10
kills and three blocks. She averaged 3.15 kills per game on the
season, trailing only Huber among Whitman players.
In an early season four-game match against Western Baptist
College, Kirstein delivered eight service aces. It was the most
aces served in one match during the season by an NWC player.
CONTACT:
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information, 509 527-5902
Email: holden@whitman.edu