Nine V-Hawks Receive All-Conference Honors
WATERTOWN, SD – The North Star Athletic Association (NSAA) officially announced their 2023 Women's Volleyball All-Conference teams and postseason awards on Wednesday night. Awards were given out during the honors presentation at Goss Opera House in downtown Watertown on the eve of the North Star Volleyball conference postseason tournament at Civic Arena.
Viterbo led all teams with five first-team selections, one second-team, five postseason awards, and a champion of character.
The NSAA All-Conference teams and postseason awards were voted on by the league coaches.
Kenzie Winker, Sr., OH – Winker was named the NSAA Player of the Year, while also collecting her fifth straight First-Team All-NSAA selection. She led the NSAA with 452 kills, 4.00 kills/set, on .210 hitting. She ranked third in the league with 609 receptions, while only committing 18 errors. She also added 2.56 digs/set (20th), 49 total blocks (17th), 25 assists and 17 aces. The last V-Hawk to earn conference Player of the Year was Miah Garant in 2021. Winker was named the NSAA Attacker of the Week twice this year, and the NAIA National Attacker of the Week once.
Jada Mitchell, So., MH – Mitchell earned her second straight NSAA Offensive Player of the Year award and First-Team All-NSAA section after leading the conference in hitting percentage at .367. She was fifth in total kills (317) and ninth in kills/set (2.81). She also led the conference with 114 total blocks (17 solo), 16 more than 2nd place, and was third in blocks/set at 1.01. This is the third year in a row the V-Hawks have won Offensive Player of the Year, and the fifth time in seven years (Mitchell-2022, Miah Garant-2021, Katie Frohmader-2019, Natalie Geidel-2017). Mitchell also collected two NSAA Attacker of the Week awards this season.
Kenidi McCabe, Jr., DS – McCabe made her first appearance on the conference honor roll in a big way, being selected as the Libero of the Year and making the All-Conference First-Team. She holds the top spot in the league with 557 digs (4.89/set) and 705 receptions, nearly 100 more than 2nd place. She was also seventh in service aces with 26, and added 89 assists. This is the third year in a row a V-Hawk earned Libero of the Year, as Adrianna Reinhart won the two previous seasons.
Grace Rohde, Jr., OH – Rohde was the final repeat First-Team selection for the V-Hawks, making it two straight years for her. She was second in the league in both kills, 420, and kills/set, 3.68. she hit .233, the best of any player with more than 1,000 attempts. Defensively, she was top-10 with 336 total digs (2.95/set), and totaled 41 blocks. She was second in receptions and third in service aces, with 610 and 33, respectively.
Martina McGrath, Jr., MH – McGrath was the final V-Hawk to receive First-Team honors, making the first All-Conference appearance of her career. She ranked second in the NSAA with 98 blocks (.88/set), and added 245 kills on .310 hitting percentage.
Maddie Connor, So., S – Connor was the final V-Hawk to earn all-conference recognition, making the Second-Team. She totaled 989 assists and 8.68/set, both second in the league. She also led all players with 51 service aces, while also contributing 211 digs, 29 kills, and 12 blocks.
Sadie Treptow, So., MH – Treptow was selected as Viterbo's Champion of Character. She earned this award for embodying the NAIA's five core values of integrity, respect, responsibility, sportsmanship and servant leadership both on and off the court.
Ryan DeLong earned his third straight Coach of the Year nod, and the ninth of his career (2022, 2021, 2019, 2016, 2015, 2014-MCC, 2012-MCC, 2010-MCC). The V-Hawks won the regular season title with an undefeated record in conference play. It is the V-Hawks third straight title, and eighth in 10 years.
Thomas Robson was named the NSAA Assistant Coach of the Year. He is the first coach in program history to receive this honor.
The six-team postseason tournament kicks off Thursday evening with No. 6 seed Waldorf (Iowa) playing No. 3 seed Bellevue (Neb.) at 4 p.m. in the quarterfinals round. The second quarterfinal match will feature No. 5 seed Mayville State (N.D.) taking on No. 4 seed Dakota State (S.D.) at 6 p.m.
No. 1 seed Viterbo and No. 2 seed Valley City State (N.D.) received the first-round bye and will play on Friday evening.
For the full All-Conference teams, click here.