December 21, 2009


CNU Sweeps College Volleyball Honors

DANVILLE, Va. -- Christopher Newport University, which advanced to the Elite Eight of the Division III NCAA Tournament, swept all three 2009 College Division All-State Volleyball individual honors given by the Virginia Sports Information Directors. The organization’s members also voted two Captains to the College Division All-State Volleyball First Team.

2009 VaSID College Volleyball All-State Team

Christopher Newport’s Caitlyn Jansen was named the Player of the Year and Kara Elder was voted as the Rookie of the Year. Captains coach Lindsay Birch was chosen as the Coach of the Year.

Jansen, a junior middle blocker from Lorton, Va., was the USA South Conference Player of the Year, a First-Team All-Region selection and a Third Team All-American. Jansen, who was also named MVP of the New York Regional, finished with 428 kills, a .363 attack percentage, 39 service aces, 142 digs and 77 blocks.

Elder, a freshman outside hitter from Charlottesville, Va., was the USA South Conference Rookie of the Year and a USA South First Team selection. She was also voted to the All-Region First Team, named Region Freshman of the Year and selected as an Honorable Mention All-American. Elder finished with 395 kills, a .194 attack percentage, 382 digs, 52 service aces and 36 blocks.

Birch guided Christopher Newport to its best season in school history. The Captains finished 36-7, finished unbeaten in the USA South Conference for the third consecutive season and advanced to the NCAA’s Elite Eight. Birch was also named the USA South Coach of the Year.

Jansen and Elder were also voted to the VaSID All-State First Team, along with Virginia Wesleyan College’s Rebecca Bradford, Bridgewater College’s Erika Dirnagl, Emory & Henry College’s Rachel Fertitta and Randolph-Macon College’s Raena Winton.

The All-State Second Team was comprised for Ferrum College’s Jessica Flanagan, Christopher Newport’s Abby Hogge, Southern Virginia University’s Ali Krebs, Randolph-Macon’s Jill Kubichan, the University of Mary Washington’s Anne Lutkenhaus and Washington and Lee University’s Rachael Phillips.

All-State teams are selected by active members of the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association.  For more information, please visit the VaSID site at http://www.ferrum.edu/athletics/vasid.