Nov. 17, 2004
Georgia Tech’s Lynnette Moster (Liberty, Ind.) was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year and head coach Bond Shymansky the Coach of the Year as six Yellow Jackets were named to all-ACC volleyball teams Wednesday.
Joining Moster on the all-ACC teams were first-team selection Jayme Gergen (Topeka, Kansa) and second team honorees Marisa Aston (Huntington Beach, Calif.), Lindsey Laband (Monument, Colo.), and Lauren Sauer (Huntsville, Ala.). In addition, Ulrike Stegemann (Schwerin, Germany) was named to the all-ACC Freshman squad.
The Yellow Jackets, the 2004 ACC Volleyball regular season champions, led all teams with six selections on this season’s All-Conference teams, marking the third time in ACC history that six players from the same team earned all-ACC accolades.
Moster garnered the Player of the Year title after a stellar senior season. The starting outside hitter is the only player this season to be ranked in the ACC in kills per game, digs per game, hitting percentage and service aces per game. In addition to being named Player of the Year, Moster also earned first team all-ACC honors for the third time in her career, marking the fourth year she has received all-conference accolades. Moster joins former standouts Kerry Annel (1992-95), Kele Eveland (2000-03), and Maja Pachale (1998-2001) as the only other players from Georgia Tech to earn the distinction as Player of the Year.
Joining Moster on the all-ACC first team is Gergen who earns first-team honors for the first time in her career after starting the entire season at middle blocker for the Jackets. Gergen currently leads the ACC and is ranked 12th in the nation in hitting percentage (.403) and is ranked fourth in the conference in blocks per game (1.35). The middle blocker has earned ACC Player of the Week honors twice this season and currently ranks fifth on Tech’s career block assist list with 407 and career total block list with 450.
Garnering second team all-ACC honors for the second straight season is Marisa Aston who was recognized for her play as a libero. Aston, earning all-conference honors for the second time in her career, currently ranks first on the team in digs (426), averaging 4.58 per game, which ranks fifth in the ACC, and has recorded 20 or more digs in six matches this season.
Sauer earned second team all-ACC after starting the entire year as an outside hitter for the Jackets. Sauer ranks second on the team and 5th in the ACC in kills per game (4.52) and is currently ranked fifth on Tech’s career kill list. The Huntsville, Ala., native has had three matches this season in which she recorded 20 or more kills. This marks the third time Sauer has garnered all-ACC accolades in her career.
Joining Aston and Sauer on the second team is Laband, who earns all-ACC honors for the first time in her career. The junior setter currently leads the nation in assists per game (15.14) and runs an offense which leads the country in assists per game (16.99) and is second in the nation in kills per game (18.36). A two-time ACC Player of the Week this season, Laband is already ranked sixth on the Jackets’ career assist list (1,445) after only one year as the starting setter.
Named to the all-ACC Freshman squad was Stegemann, who has started at middle blocker for a majority of the year this season. Stegemann is currently ranked ninth in the ACC in hitting percentage (.299) and is fifth on the team in kills per game (2.25).
Shymansky earns ACC Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career. In just three season at the helm of the Yellow Jackets, Shymansky has compiled a 90-15 career record, including 43 victories in conference matches, and led the Tech to a perfect 16-0 record in conference play this season for the first time in school history. He joins former head coach Shelton Collier (1991-2001) as the only coaches in school history to win the award.
Georgia Tech (23-5, 16-0 ACC) enters the 25th annual ACC Championship tournament as the number one seed and will face either ninth seeded Clemson (18-13, 7-9) or eighth seeded Virginia Tech (13-15, 7-9) at 11 a.m. Friday. The tournament is being held at Memorial Gym in Charlottesville, Va., and the championship match will be broadcast live on the ACC Regional television package (Fox Sports Net South, Home Team Sports, Sunshine Network, Comcast Sports) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
