UWM Coach Litzau Named District Coach of the Year
Dec. 10, 1999 MILWAUKEE - Kathy Litzau, the head coach of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Volleyball team, was named the 1999 Tachikara/American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) District Six Coach of the Year. Under Litzau’s direction, the Panthers held the AVCA District Six’s top ranking throughout the season. The final district rankings fell as follows: 1. UW – Milwaukee, 2. Southeast Missouri, 3. Cincinnati, 4. Louisville, 5. Houston, 6. Loyola, 7. DePaul, 8. St. Louis, 9. Marquette, 10. Eastern Illinois. This season marks the first time the Panthers have reached the top spot in the district rankings. The Panthers finished last season ranked No. 6 in the district, No. 4 in 1997, and were not ranked at the end of 1996 or ‘95. District 6 includes the MCC, Conference USA, Ohio Valley, and the SWAC conference schools. The 1999 Panthers earned a 25-4 overall record and an 11-1 mark in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, capturing the regular-season conference crown and earning an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament—the Panthers’ second consecutive tournament appearance. Litzau, in her seventh season with the Panthers, was also recently named Co-Coach of the Year for the MCC. Litzau boasts a 120-97 overall coaching record at UWM. Three of Litzau’s players also received AVCA District 6 recognition. Seniors Ericka Malterer and Sue Raschka, along with sophomore Chrissy Schurla, were selected to the 1999 AVCA All-District Volleyball Team. This is the most UWM players named to the All-District team in school history. This is the second time Malterer has earned this honor, and the first time for Raschka and Schurla. Opposite hitter Malterer ended her career as UWM’s top offensive player, setting a new career kills record tallying 1,569 career kills. She is second in career digs with 1,169. She has earned numerous other accolades during the year, including earning 1999 Academic All-District first team honors, MCC All-Conference first team honors, and MCC All-Tournament Team honors. She also was named the UWM Pepsi Athlete of the Month for September, named the Tournament MVP for the Panther Invitational and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Wisconsin Challenge. Middle blocker Raschka ends her career second in all-time blocking with 257 career blocks and her 747 career kills puts her fourth in the record books. She was named the 1999 MCC Volleyball Player of the Year and is the only Panther named to the All-Tournament Team from each of the three team tournament outings this season (the Purdue Premier, the Panther Invitational, and the Wisconsin Challenge). She also earned MCC Player of the Week honors twice this season, for the weeks of Sept. 27 and Oct. 18, and earned MCC All-Conference first team honors. Finally, she was named to the 1999 Academic All-District second team. Middle blocker Schurla led the team in blocks and hitting, and was named the named the MCC Player of the Week for Oct. 11 and was named to the MCC All-Conference first team. 1999 All-District 6 Volleyball Team Angie Aschoff * Southeast Missouri State MB Sr. Stephanie Bishop DePaul OH So. Michelle Frazier Houston MB Jr. Annie Gant Cincinnati S Sr. Krista Haukap Southeast Missouri State OH Jr. Amy Henken Southeast Missouri State S Sr. Ericka Malterer * Wisconsin-Milwaukee RS/Opp Sr. Stephanie Meinig Cincinnati MB Jr. Sue Raschka Wisconsin-Milwaukee MB Sr. Laura Risley * Saint Louis MB Sr. Chrissy Schurla Wisconsin-Milwaukee MB So. Bonita Wise Cincinnati MB Fr. District Freshman of the Year: Bonita Wise, Cincinnati, MB
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