November 7, 2008

CEDAR RAPIDS , IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Loras College senior setter Jenny Dziubla (Bartlett, Ill./St. Edward Central) has been named the 2008 IIAC Volleyball Most Valuable Player and Loras College head coach Teresa Kehe has been named 2008 IIAC Volleyball Coach of the Year. Dziubla was a unanimous selection as the league's top player.

Dziubla led Loras (30-4, 8-0 IIAC) to their first Iowa Conference championship and the top seed in this weekend's Conference Tournament. She averaged 10.45 assists, 2.2 digs, 1.14 kills, and 0.74 blocks per set, and had a .288 hitting percentage (138 kills-45 errors-343 total attempts) in 34 matches (121 sets) prior to the tournament. She recorded 30 or more assists in 30 matches, reacing double digits in digs 11 times, recording 11 double-doubles. She also recorded a 13-dig, 39-assist, 12-block triple-double against University of Chicago on September 5. Dziubla led the Conference in assists per set and was an important factor in the performance of teammate Kate Russell, who led the league in kills (4.21/set) and hitting percentage (.361).

Kehe, in her third season at Loras, led the Duhawks to a perfect 8-0 record and the top seed in this weekend's Conference where they enter with a 30-4 overall record. Loras, which was picked to finish eighth in the preseason coaches' poll, became the third Iowa Conference school to complete conference play with an undefeated record, joining Central (10 times) and Simpson (4). Loras has been ranked in each of the first two Central Region rankings conducted by the NCAA. This is the first IIAC Coach of the Year honor for Kehe.

The IIAC also announced today the 2008 Volleyball All-Conference Team. The 16-member Team includes six repeat All-Conference performers including two – Dziubla and Simpson's Tara Christenson – who are three-time All-Conference selections. Dziubla becomes just the 19th IIAC volleyball player to be named First Team All-Conference at least three times. Buena Vista's Katie Vondrak, Central's Miranda Kouba, Coe's Shayla Chalker, and Simpson's Amy Schuster each picked up their second All-Conference honor. Cornell's Laura Dudgeon and Wartburg's Kelsey Steffens each earned All-Conference honors after being named honorable mention in 2007.

Conference runner-up Simpson led the way with four All-Conference players, followed by IIAC Champion Loras with three - including two First Teamers. Central, Luther, and Wartburg each had two All-Conference players selected, while one player each from Buena Vista, Coe and Cornell was also tabbed. Central was the only other school with multiple First Team honorees (Kouba and Michelle Ripperger). Luther also had two players receive Honorable Mention, as did one player each from Buena Vista, Central, Cornell, Dubuque, Loras, and Wartburg.

The complete 2008 IIAC All-Conference Volleyball Team is here.

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