Minnesota Duluth junior Vicky Braegelmann was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division II co-Player of the Year on Tuesday.
Braegelmann, a right side hitter from Albany, Minn., is the first NCAA Division II athlete in school history to be named national player of the year in any sport. She shares the honor with Lock Haven (Pa.) University senior middle blocker Li YiZhi of Shanghai, China.
The only previous Bulldogs named national player of the year have come in Division I men's hockey as Hobey Baker Memorial Award winners.
"This award not only means a lot to me, but it means a great deal to our program and it shows just how far we have come," said Braegelmann in a news release. "This is a big honor for me and it hasn't really sunk in yet. [For the award] to come at this point in my career is very exciting. I've accomplished a lot here so far and I want that success to continue into my final year.''
''She has had an incredible first three years and has helped take this program to new heights. Vicky and this team have been to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight two of the last three years, which says a lot about her and her teammates," UMD coach Jim Boos said in a news release.
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"The impressive part is that she has been an All-American for two years [as a freshman and sophomore], so teams know about her and plan accordingly to defend her, and yet her numbers and performance this year were better than the previous two.''
Braegelmann, who also earned a third-straight AVCA Division II All-American first-team selection, finished the 2006 season with 118 games played, 560 kills for a 4.75 kills-per-game average and a .374 hitting percentage. She also had 78 blocks for .78 blocks per game.
Other Braegelmann awards this season:
* Most Valuable Player of the North Central Conference for a second straight year.
* All-NCC team.
* AVCA Division II All-North Central Region team.
* North Central Region all-tournament team.
* Daktronics All-North Central Region first team.
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* Daktronics All-American second team.
Braegelmann helped the Bulldogs to a third straight NCC title in their third year in the league. UMD was 12-0 mark in the NCC, the first team to post an undefeated mark since the league went to a double round-robin format in 1994.
UMD (31-4) qualified for the Division II playoffs for a fifth straight year and reached the NCAA semifinals for the second time in three years, losing to eventual-champion Tampa.
