Volleyball: Hawks receive GLVC honors

Rockhurst freshman middle hitter Kelsey Stratman and head coach Tracy Rietzke have been honored with two of the GLVC’s major postseason honors in volleyball. Stratman was voted by the league coaches as co-Freshman of the Year. Rietzke was recognized by his peers as GLVC Coach of the Year.

Stratman, a middle hitter from Omaha, Neb., leads the conference and ranks 16th in the country with 1.29 blocks per set. She notched 292 kills, 143 blocks, 37 digs, and 11 aces in 112 sets for the Hawks. She posted a career-high 21 kills against Wisconsin-Parkside on Oct. 20 and recorded a personal-best 13 blocks against Missouri-St. Louis on Sept. 21.

Four times this year, Stratman was credited with eight or more blocks in a match. She was honored with both a GLVC Baden Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week award this year. She is the second Rockhurst player to earn GLVC Freshman of the Year and first since Emily Crowley in 2007.

Rietzke earns his second career GLVC Coach of the Year accolade. He directed the Hawks to a 25-6 record this season, including a 14-4 mark in GLVC action and 13-1 in West Division play. They are the second-seeded team from the West Division for the 2012 GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament, which begins Friday in Indianapolis.

In addition to Stratman’s two weekly honors, Rietzke’s standouts earned four other weekly nods from the league this season, including a pair of defensive honors for Whitney Kostal and Victoria Mahl.

Stratman was also named to the All-GLVC First Team and the GLVC All-West Division team. She was joined on the 12-member All-West Division team by teammates Whitney Kostal and Emily Ready. Kostal, a freshman setter from Papillion, Neb., ranks fourth in the GLVC in assists per set. Ready, a sophomore middle hitter from Smithville, Mo., ranks fourth in hitting percentage and fifth in blocks per set in the GLVC.