Jan. 15, 2008
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The 2007 Volleyball season was full of firsts, and plenty of awards. The season ended with the Argos earning the first coach of the year, and player of the year in UWF Volleyball history. The team set records for overall wins (32) and conference wins (12), and held a top 25 ranking, for most of the season. To cap off the season, Sarah Harrison earned the Argo Award for the player that best represents the UWF Volleyball program, while Luciana Rapach was the team MVP, and Freshmen Kara Gonzalez earned the Most Improved Player Award.
Sarah Harrison, a senior from Sinton, Texas was the senior captain on the team, and the team's SAAC (Student Athlete Advisory Committee) representative. Harrison, a Studio Art major, has an outstanding academic record with a cumulative GPA of 3.73. The Middle Hitter finished second on the team in blocks per game this past season, and ended her career with 103 total blocks in two seasons. Harrison had started her career at UWF, with six kills and four blocks in her very first match in the fall of 2006.
The West Florida Volleyball team was loaded with talented players and received many conference honors, regional honors, and one All-American honor, which makes the Argo Award a very prestigious award. Head Coach Melissa Wolter emphasized the honor of the Argo Award winner. "Sarah is the type of player that represents the UWF volleyball program the best. She is a great teammate, student and player. We are very happy that Sarah is this year's Argo Award winner," said Wolter.
Luciana Rapach became the first Argonaut volleyball player to earn the Gulf South Conference player of the year award this past season. She then capped off her season of awards, by being the only Gulf South conference player to achieve All-American status in 2007. The Junior from Porto Alegre, Brazil, took the conference by storm in her first season in the league, winning Defensive Player of the Week honors on three separate occasions. She had the only triple double on the season, and just missed a second. She recorded 13 kills, 15 assists, and 22 digs against Eckerd College, and against Montevallo she had 9 kills, 10 assists, and 9 nine digs.
Head Coach Melissa Wolter felt that Rapach was an underrated player, and was happy with her honors. "I was very excited that Luciana was honored by the coaches in the conference. She is extremely deserving, because she is a very selfless player, who gives 100% all of the time." Rapach performs all over the court, and finished in the top three on her team in several categories, including digs (445), assists (179) and hitting percentage (.300).
Kara Gonzalez, a freshman from St. Augustine, Fla., was an outstanding backup playing behind all-conference performers. She provided a great luxury for West Florida, to have a player with starter capabilities coming off the bench. Gonzalez finished the season with an impressive .293 hitting percentage, right behind all-conference starters Isabela Gualberto (.318), and Luciana Rapach (.300). The Middle/Outside Hitter recorded 70 kills in just 41 games, with only 22 errors. She also recorded 27 blocks on the season. "Kara had a great freshman year for us here at UWF. She played a big role in a lot of important matches and got better throughout the year. She is very deserving of the MIP," stated Coach Wolter.
Gonzalez' best match was against West Georgia, when the Argos fell behind 2-0 in games, and Gonzalez provided a big spark off the bench with kills and blocks at crucial points in the third and fourth games. She provided three kills early in game three and a big block at the end of game three, which shifted the momentum to the Argos and allowed them to cap off a thrilling come from behind five set win and remain unbeaten in conference play. Kara would end that contest with a team leading .375 attack percentage and seven kills.
The Argonauts had three players in addition to Rapach, earn All-Conference Awards this past season. Junior Setter Madeline Gonzalez (Puerto Rico) and Senior Outside Hitter Isabela Gualberto (Brazil) were selected to the All-Conference 1st team, while Junior Outside Hitter Kimberly Clark (St. Petersburg, Fla.) was selected to the 2nd team All-Conference. "Madi (Gonzalez), Bela (Gualberto), and Kim (Clark) were very deserving, and they were very important for our success this season." stated coach Wolter.
Setter Madeline Gonzalez shattered the single season assists record for UWF, ending with 1592 assists. Gonzalez won the offensive player of the week twice during the regular season, and was the MVP of the Nanook Classic Tournament in Alaska, as UWF swept four matches in the tournament.
Isabela Gualberto finished the season in the top five in the conference for hitting percentage at .318, and led the team in kills with 493. She was the MVP of the Comfort Inn-vitational tournament earlier this season, when she recorded 59 kills in the four matches, and hit .421 for the tournament. She earned the offensive player of the week award for October 2nd, when she had 41 kills in three matches, including 20 against North Alabama.
Kimberly Clark had the unique honor of being selected once as the offensive player of the week, and once as the defensive player of the week, during the 2007 season. Against 11th ranked Pittsburg State earlier in the year, she had more kills (11) than the entire Pittsburg State team (10), in the third and final game of the match. Clark finished second on the team with 410 kills, and third on the team with 370 digs and 76 blocks.
The 2007 Argonauts also set a Gulf South Conference record with seven different players earning player of the week awards. As a team, West Florida earned 11 of the 22 player of the week awards for the conference, and three times they swept the awards with both an offensive and defensive player earning the award the same week. In addition to Rapach, Clark, Gualberto, and Madeline Gonzalez, three other Argonauts earned player of the week awards during the season.
Senior Danielle Spitzer earned the offensive player of the week for her outstanding effort in the win over West Georgia on the road, as she hit an impressive .476 for the match, with 13 kills and five blocks. Freshmen Chelsea Wilhoite earned a defensive player of the week award during the week that the Argos knocked off defending GSC champion North Alabama, as Wilhoite recorded 18 digs in that match alone. Finally, Junior Jerica Carter was named the defensive player of the week, for her defensive efforts in three wins in one week with 48 digs, including 20 digs against Alabama Huntsville. In that same contest, Carter became the Argonauts all-time career leader in digs.
