8/09/04 Gabby Selected to the Big 12 Preseason Team
Senior setter Gabby Guerre, a 2003 AVCA Third Team All-American and All-Big 12 player, was one of six players selected to the Big 12 Preseason Team. In all matches played in 2003, Gabby was 3rd in the Big 12 in assists, 4th in hitting percentage and 5th in service aces.
8/09/04 Cats Picked #2 in the Big 12
The Big 12 Conference coaches have placed the Wildcats (30 - 5 last year) 2nd in the Big 12 in the preseason poll. Nebraska (28-5) was selected to 1st place in the poll.
8/09/04 The Cats are #14 in the pre-season AVCA poll.
July 2004 Stacy Sykora returns as Olympic libero
Texas A & M's two-time All-American, Stacy Sykora, will return as libero on the team that came in fourth in 2000. She has been playing professionally in Italy when not training on the USA team. One of the world's greatest volleyball players, she caught my attention during the years when Kim Zschau and Dawn Cady Sullivan were keeping her very busy on the court. Check these links for some more info:
3/04/04 Coach Fritz for the decade
A contract extension for Coach Suzie Fritz was announced this week. The term of the contract is from 2004 through 2009. The Big 12 Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2003, Suzie has a record of 71 - 22 as the Cats' head coach.
1/31/04 A new court for the Cats!
It was announced at the annual Wildcat Volleyball awards dinner today that the Cats will be playing on a new court next season. Kevin Irsik, a cattleman from Ingalls, is generously picking up the tab. It will be a wood court, but Mr. Irsik says further details are not finalized.
12/24/03 The Cats are #11 in the final AVCA poll.
12/21/03 Coach Fritz Welcomes New Team Member
Mom and Dad welcomed baby Jacob Dean Fritz just in time for Christmas. Congratulations and best wishes to all.
12/17/03 Lauren Goehring Named First-Team All-American Press Release
Today senior middle blocker Lauren Goehring became the first Wildcat to be named
a first team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. She was the only selection to the 12-member first team from the Big 12.
The Big 12 Player of the Year, Lauren set a new single-season and career record with a hitting percentage of .409 this season, and a .354 career percentage. The .409 mark also was 1st in the Big 12.
The senior from Fort Worth, Texas finished her career as the all-time leader in kills by a middle blocker and seventh overall with 1,212 kills. She was also fourth all-time in block assists with 377. She had 36 matches with at least five blocks, 64 with 10 or more kills and 77 with a .300 or higher hitting percentage.
12/17/03 Gabby Guerre Named Honorable Mention All-American
Junior setter Gabby Guerre was selected today as one of 60 honorable mention All-Americans by the AVCA.
Gabby and Lauren become just the third and fourth All-Americans in school history, joining Dawn Cady (1999) and Liz Wegner (1999 and 2000). Cady was named a second team All-American by the AVCA in 1999, while Wegner was an honorable mention selection by Volleyball Magazine in both 1999 and 2000.
Gabby became only the second player in K-State history to collect four triple-doubles in a career with her 10-kill, 51-assist and 19-dig performance in the 3-1 loss to 10th-ranked Penn State in the East Regional Semifinals in Gainesville, Fla. on Dec. 12. For her efforts against Penn State, she was selected to East Regional All-Tournament team. Guerre ranks third in school history in both career (3,678) and single-season (1,517) assists.
The All-Americans will be given their awards on Friday, as part of the AVCA All-America/Player of the Year Banquet at the Wyndham Anatole
Hotel in Dallas, Texas.
12/14/03 Lauren Goehring #10 in NCAA Division 1 in hitting, at .409.
12/10/03 K-Staters Named to All-Central Region Volleyball Team
Press Release
Laura Downey-Wallace, Suzie Fritz and Lauren Goehring earned all-region honors Wednesday in Colorado Springs. Lauren Goehring, Gabby Guerre and Laura Downey-Wallace were named to the 2003 AVCA All-Central Region volleyball team and head coach Suzie Fritz was named the region's Coach of the Year, the AVCA announced today. Lauren and Gabby were named to the first team while Laura was named to the honorable mention team.
Lauren, the Big 12 Player of the Year, set a new single-season and career record for hitting percentage with a .410 mark this season, and a .354 career percentage. She is currently eighth in all-time in kills with 1,198 and is K-State's all-time leader in kills by a middle blocker. Read the press release to review all of her impressive numbers.
Gabby is the Big 12's most versatile setter, with the stats to prove it. She is first in total assists (1466), first in kills (211), first in blocks per game (.86), first in digs per game (2.25) and second in assists per game (12.02). She is the third player in K-State history to collect three triple-doubles.
Laura was named Big 12 Libero of the Year in 2002 and 2003. She is second all-time at KSU in digs, and led the league this season, with 504. She set Kansas State's single-season dig record with 558 last season, and in her three seasons as a defensive specialist/libero, Laura has had 72 matches with 10 or more digs, 41 with 15 or more digs and 21 with 20 or more digs.
Coach Fritz, in her third season as head coach, has a 71-21 overall record, is 49-11 in Big 12 play and has been the Big 12 Coach of the Year for the past two seasons. She currently has the highest winning percentage in Kansas State history (.772). This year, she led the Wildcats to their first conference title, longest winning streak in school history (16), most conference wins in a season (18), highest national ranking (5th)
and most wins since beginning NCAA play (30).
12/05/03 Cari Jensen Named to Academic All-America First Team
Cari Jensen is the first K-State volleyball player to be named to the Academic All-America First Team. She was named to the 2003 CoSIDA Academic All-America Volleyball First Team in a vote of the nation's College Sports Information Directors. Cari is the first volleyball player to ever earn two Academic All-America selections, as she was named to the All-America Third Team last season. She is a three-time Academic All-Big 12 selection and two-time Academic All-District selection.
A three-time Big 12 Volleyball Player of the Week, C. J. has been named to the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll all six semesters at K-State and
currently has a 3.94 GPA in kinesiology and Pre-Health Professions.
12/01/03 Gabby Named Big 12 Player of the Week
DALLAS - Setter Gabby Guerre was selected as the final Big 12 Conference Volleyball Player of the Week for her performance during the week of Nov. 24 - 30, the Big 12 announced today. She recorded 10 kills, 13 digs and 50 assists against Texas last Saturday to earn her second triple-double of the season and third of her career. For the week, Gabby had 83 assists (averaging 11.86 assists per game), 2.43 kills per game on a .382 hitting percentage, 2.29 digs, 1.14 blocks and 3.57 points per game. Congratulations to Gabby!
11/30/03 Big 12 Conference Announces Volleyball Postseason Awards
Press Release
Kansas State's Lauren Goehring was named Player of the Year and head coach Susie Fritz was chosen Coach of the Year to take the top two honors for the Big 12 Conference Volleyball postseason awards, the conference announced. Others receiving awards were Valeria Hejjas of Kansas State, Newcomer of the Year; Jessica Vander Kooi of Missouri, Freshman of the Year, Juliana Godoi also of Missouri, Defensive Specialist of the Year; and Kansas State's Laura Downey-Wallace, Libero of the Year for the second straight year. Laura Downey-Wallace and Lisa Martin received Honorable Mention.
11/17/03 Top Ten Nationally in Attendance
K-State stands at # 7 nationally in volleyball attendance, with 25,062 having seen the Cats so far this fall.
11/15/03 All-Time Record Home Crowd
An all-time record crowd of 5,287 watched K-State volleyball's 30-28, 29-31, 30-26, 30-25 win over 10th-ranked Nebraska on Saturday. The Cats defeated the Huskers in both matches this season. This was the first-ever win over Nebraska in Manhattan.
9/22/03 Valeria Hejjas named Big 12 Player of the Week.
9/15/03 Lauren Goehring named Big 12 Player of the Week.
9/13/03 Wildcat Classic All-Tournament Team
Lauren Goehring was named MVP of the Wildcat Classic, and was joined by Lisa Martin and Valeria Hejjas on the tournament team.
9/06/03 Montana State Mizuno/Holiday Inn Classic All-Tournament Team
Lauren Goehring was named MVP of the Montana State Mizuno/Holiday Inn Classic, and was joined on the tournament team by Lisa Martin.
8/30/03 Florida State Invitational All-Tournament Team
Lauren Goehring was named MVP of the Florida State Invitational, and was joined by Gabby Guerre on the tournament team.
My favorite non-K-State athlete, Stacy Sykora of Texas A & M, played in most of every game of the 2000 Sydney Olympics, as the team's libero. Team USA finished one match short of a medal, thanks in no small part to Stacy's awesome digs. She was a great competitor vs. the Cats, and a two-time All-American. Now, in 2003, Stacy is a libero on the Women's National Team.
