November 6, 2009

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Cornell College senior middle hitter Laura Dudgeon (Bettendorf, Iowa/Bettendorf) has been named the 2009 IIAC Volleyball Most Valuable Player and Luther College head coach Jane Gibbs has been named 2009 IIAC Volleyball Coach of the Year.

Dudgeon led Cornell (23-8, 5-3 IIAC) to the fourth seed in this weekend's Conference Tournament. A 2009 team captain, she averaged 3.72 kills, 0.72 blocks, 0.47 digs, and had a .356 (365 kills-91 errors-769 total attacks) in 29 matches (98 sets) prior to the Tournament. She recorded 10 or more kills in 20 matches, surpassing 20 kills three times, including a season-high 23 against Beloit Sept. 12. Dudgeon led all IIAC players in hitting percentage and kills (3.72 per set). In eight Iowa Conference matches, Dudgeon led the league in hitting percentage (.367; 95K-23E-196TA) and kills (3.80 per set). She was named to the all-tournament teams at Illinois College (Sept. 5-6) and Illinois Wesleyan (Sept. 11-12). During the course of the season, Dudgeon became Cornell’s career leader in kills and set a single-match school record for hitting efficiency with a .778 (14-0-18) against Dubuque Sept. 23.

Gibbs, in her third season at Luther, led the Norse to a 6-2 record and the second seed in this weekend's Conference tournament. The tie for second place in the final league standings is a school-best for Luther in volleyball. Entering the IIAC Tournament at 25-10, the Norse are enjoying their best season since finishing 29-9 in 1993. Luther has been ranked in the last two Central Region rankings conducted by the NCAA. This is the first IIAC Coach of the Year honor for Gibbs as well as the first for a Luther volleyball coach.

The IIAC also announced today the 2009 Volleyball All-Conference Team. The 16-member Team includes six repeat All-Conference performers led by Dudgeon and Simpson's Tara Christensen, who becomes just the 10th IIAC volleyball player to be named All-Conference four times and the 20th to be named First Team All-Conference at least three times. Dudgeon and Central's Michelle Ripperger were named to the First Team for the second consecutive year, while Kristin Paczosa was named to the First Team after being a Second Team pick in 2007. Dudgeon was also named Honorable Mention in 2007. Simpson's Whitney Oviatt and Brittany Friesth were selected to the Second Team for the second year in a row. First teamer Emily Cory of Luther and Second Teamers Taylor Skoglund of Luther and Channing Merchant of Wartburg were each named All-Conference for the first time after receiving Honorable Mention a year ago.

Conference champion Simpson led the way with four All-Conference players, followed by Wartburg with three. Central, Cornell, Loras, and Luther each had two players selected, while one player from Coe was also tabbed. Cornell (Dudgeon and Paczosa) and Simpson (Christensen and Lara Gillespie) each had two players named to the First Team. In addition, Buena Vista, Central, Cornell, Dubuque, Luther, and Simpson each had one player receive Honorable Mention.

The complete 2009 IIAC All-Conference Volleyball Team is here.

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