CSS Junior Zyvoloski Named UMAC Player of the Year

Nov 10, 2011

Northland Sports Online

ST. PAUL – St. Scholastica junior outside hitter Anna Zyvoloski (Sauk Rapids, Minn. /St. Cloud Cathedral HS (Minn.-Duluth)) has been named the 2011 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) Volleyball Player of the Year; it was announced on Thursday.

Zyvoloski’s Player of the Year award marks the second consecutive season a Saint has received the honor with Paige Hardy (Hibbing, Minn./Hibbing HS) earning the accolade a season ago.

After playing just the front row in her first season as a Saint, Zyvoloski did a full rotation this season and it paid off as she not only led the team with 453 kills, but she was also second on the team with 401 digs and 79 total blocks. She led the team with 42 service aces. Her 453 kills led the UMAC and she was in the top seven in the league in service aces and digs. Zyvoloski recorded 19 double-doubles including a 20-20 game against the College of Saint Benedict on September 9th. She ranks in the top 25 nationally in kills per set (3.97) and points per set (4.77). Zyvoloski is named first team All-UMAC for the second straight season.

Joining Zyvoloski on the first team were fellow juniors Paige Hardy (Hibbing, Minn. /Hibbing HS) and Sarah Kurtovich (Andover, Minn. /Andover HS). Hardy, the 2010 UMAC Player of the Year, is named to the first team for the third straight season. Hardy was second on the team with 346 kills and third with 290 digs. She was fifth in the conference in hitting percentage (.268) and sixth in kills. Hardy has recorded 11 double-doubles this season. Both Hardy and Zyvoloski went over 1,000 career kills during the year.

Kurtovich is named to the first team for the second consecutive year after receiving honorable mention accolades her freshman season. After rotating two setters at the beginning of the year, Coach Moore reverted back to having Kurtovich as the primary setter after she returned from injury midway through the year. Since that point, Kurtovich has recorded 27 or more assists in 14 of the last 16 matches, including 40 or more assists in the last three matches. She was fourth in the UMAC in assists (834) and distributed the ball well as the Saints led the UMAC as a team with a .263 hitting percentage.

Senior Nikki Hughes (Lake Nebagamon, Wis. /Northwestern HS) and junior Taylor Tyllia (Duluth, Minn. /Duluth East HS) were honorable mention All-UMAC choices. Hughes, who was a first team All-UMAC selection a year ago, led the team with 451 digs this season. She finished third in the conference, averaging 3.92 digs per set and saved her best for the UMAC Tournament with her top two dig totals for her career in the semifinals and championship. For her efforts, Hughes was named the UMAC Tournament MVP.

Tyllia is named honorable mention All-UMAC for the second straight year. Tyllia was third on the team with 236 kills this season and led the conference with a .317 hitting percentage. She recorded a career-high 17 kills in the UMAC Tournament semifinal victory over Minnesota-Morris.

Cortney Rykken (Babbitt, Minn. /Babbitt-Embarrass HS) was also named to the UMAC All-Sportsmanship team. Kaylie Clark of Minnesota-Morris was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Miranda Maasz of Martin Luther and Emily Auch of Minnesota-Morris were the Co-Rookies of the Year. Rebecca Cox of Martin Luther College was named the UMAC Coach of the Year.

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