As the season draws to a close, it is time to reflect on some athletes that had incredible performances on the court this season.
In the Pac-12, many volleyball players from many different teams performed above and beyond for their schools in one of the toughest conferences in the country.
It is only customary to honor such players with awards for their performances.
Comeback player of the year: Ashley Kastl (Sophomore, Outside Hitter, ASU)
One of the most intriguing stories this season was Kastl’s return to the court.
Kastl suffered a devastating and confounding hand injury her sophomore year. The injury took time to heal and Kastl had to see many different specialists to diagnose the injury. It was feared that her career at ASU was in jeopardy.
After redshirting her sophomore year and working to get her hand back in playing condition, Kastl came into the 2011 season ready to go.
Coach Jason Watson said Kastl was one of the players he was most impressed with during training camp. Her work ethic and drive caused her to have an impressive season.
Kastl finished the season leading the Sun Devils and ranked 8th in the Pac-12 with 424 kills. That is an average of 3.82 per set.
Kastl said she was just grateful to have an opportunity to play.
“I thank God that he allowed me to be able to play again,” Kastl said. “Last year was just really, really difficult and I am very thankful to have the opportunity to play here, play at Arizona State and just compete.”
That fact that she was able to return after the injury and end up leading her team offensively makes her the comeback player of the year.
Coach of the year: Beth Luaniere (Utah)
Changing conferences is not easy.
The Utah Utes along with the Colorado Buffaloes changed conferences to make the Pac-12 a stronger football conference.
Along with the football team, the other collegiate athletic programs moved as well.
The Utah volleyball team had to change from the small Mountain West Conference to the Pac-12. The Pac-12 finished with six ranked teams. The Mountain West did not have any.
Making that transition was tough for Luaniere and the Utes, but she rose to the occasion and the Utes had a successful inaugural Pac-12 season.
The Utes finished with an 11-20 record and won six Pac-12 games including an upset over then No. 16 Oregon.
Luaniere made a nice transition to the Pac-12. Look for the Utes to be a force in the conference in the coming years.
Offensive player of the year: Meagan Ganzer (Senior, Outside Hitter, Washington State)
Meagan Ganzer is a clear-cut winner for this award.
She led the Pac-12 in kills with 595 and in points averaging 5.38 a set.
The Cougars did not have one of the best records in the Pac-12 at 12-20, but the fact that Ganzer was the team’s main source of offensive production is reason enough to honor her.
Anytime the ball was set in a Cougars match, it was probably going to Ganzer. Teams had to build their strategy around one player, which is interesting to see in volleyball.
Ganzer graduates this year and one of the more dominant players in Pac-12 history.
Front line defensive player of the year: Carly Wopat (Sophomore, Middle Back, Stanford)
At 6’2”, Wopat is a presence in the middle for the Cardinal.
Wopat had her own block party every match for Stanford.
She finished the year leading the Pac-12 with 184 total blocks, which is an almost an average of two blocks per set. She also recorded seven blocks on her own.
With the help of Wopat Stanford was one of the more dominant defensive teams in the conference. The Cardinal led in blocks, digs and their opponent hitting percentage ranked third at .170.
It was hard to create any offense against the Cardinal. A main reason for that was because Wopat stationed in the middle.
Back line defensive player of the year: Stephanie Preach (Sophomore, Libero, ASU)
With all healthy ASU front line players measuring 6’2” and under, there is a lot of pressure on the back line to defend.
In Preach’s second year at ASU, she stepped up to the challenge.
Preach led the Pac-12 in digs with 610 this season. She was the only Sun Devil to lead a statistical category in the Pac-12.
ASU averaged only 2.12 blocks per set this season. A lot of backs would come to the back row and Preach made some incredible plays this season to defend the court.
Preach is just a sophomore and she is already positioned herself as one of the top liberos in the conference.
Setter of the year: Kendall Bateman (Senior, Setter, USC)
Setter is probably one of the most unselfish positions in sports. Everything you do is to set up your teammates.
No one did a better job of setting up her teammates than Bateman with 1222 assists this season.
Bateman and the Pac-12 champion Trojans posted the best offensive hitting percentage at .296.
Also due to Bateman’s sets, two Trojans were top conference scorers this season. Senior middle blocker Lauren Williams had the conference best .400 hitting percentage and senior outside hitter Alex Jupiter was fourth in the conference with 432 kills.
Freshman of the year: Krista Vansant (Freshman, Outside Hitter, Washington)
Freshman Krista Vansant burst on to the scene for the No. 11 Huskies.
She led her team in kills with 376 as a freshman and was ranked 9th in the Pac-12. No other freshman was in the top 10.
Since she was such an intricate part of the Huskies offense early in her career, her impact on the Pac-12 should only increase as her career continues.
Reach the reporter at ehubbard@asu.edu
