The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference volleyball coaches released their 2008 Post-Season Awards Wednesday, November 5 and honored three Gustavus volleyball players for their play this season. Emily Klein (Sr., Red Wing, Minn.) and Bridget Burtzel (Sr., Cold Spring, Minn.) were named to the 18-member squad, while Klein was named the MIAC Defensive Player of the Year for the third consecutive year. Britta Bolm (Sr., Alexandria, Minn.) was named to the MIAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
Emily Klein, a libero, was honored as Defensive Player of the Year after being named Tri-MIAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2007 and the Co-MIAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2006. Klein paces Gustavus with 605 digs this season averaging 6.11 digs per game to rank 11th among Division III players. She is also second on the squad with a .943 serve receive percentage making 34 errors in 600 attempts. Klein is the all-time dig leader in program history and ranks third in MIAC history at 2,270 digs.
Setter Bridget Burtzel, who was named to the MIAC All-Sportsmanship Team last year, leads Gustavus with 1,050 assists and finished second with 295 digs. She ranks 16th among Division III setters averaging 10.40 assists per game. Burtzel is third on the career assist list at 3,600 and second on the all-time dig list at 1,320.
Right side hitter Britta Bolm was named to the MIAC All-Sportsmanship Team. Bolm has compiled 159 kills and 88 total blocks and is second on the team in assists with 26.
Gustavus finished tied for second place in the MIAC regular season standings with a record of 9-2, but earned the second seed in the conference playoffs. The 18th-ranked Gusties are 25-3 overall, and are looking to qualify for their first national tournament appearance since 1986.