Orange Hands Out Team Awards
3/5/2009 4:12:16 PM | Volleyball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Orange volleyball team celebrated the 2008 season at the annual postseason awards banquet. Syracuse finished 17-15 overall and advanced to the BIG EAST Tournament for the second straight season.
Junior middle blocker Sarah Morton earned the most valuable player award after a standout season. Morton was named to the All-BIG EAST First Team after pacing the Orange offense with 346 kills, including 2.98 kills per set. She set a single-season school record with a.374 hitting percentage, surpassing Jessica Paarlberg's mark of .372 in 1988. Morton, a two-time BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll honoree, also led the Orange with 160 total blocks for a career total of 468, which ranks third in school history.
Senior defensive specialist Marissa Kanemura claimed the program's most improved player distinction. Kanemura led the team with a career-best 377 digs. She also posted career highs in digs per set (3.77) and assists (23). In addition, she tied for second on the team with a career-best 11 service aces.
Junior Kacie MacTavish was tabbed the Abbie Bigelow Award winner after being named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. MacTavish ranked second on the team with 276 kills and 2.63 kills per set while adding 11 service aces. Defensively the team captain ranked third with 258 digs and fourth with 61 total blocks in 2008. She was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll on Oct. 13 for a standout performance versus conference foes Georgetown and South Florida, where she recorded 30 kills and 35 digs through the two matches.
Senior April Quigley was named the Lucille H. Verhulst Sportswoman of the Year, awarded to the most valuable person on and off the court as voted by the team. Quigley led the Orange with 900 assists in 2008, giving her 3,523 in her career, which ranks fifth on Syracuse's career leader list. A four-time BIG EAST Academic All-Star, Quigley was named to the 2007 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District squad.
Freshman Noemie Lefebvre garnered the Alexia Tsairis Memorial Award. Lefebvre recorded 318 digs and 24 total blocks in her first season with the Orange. Tsairis was one of 35 Syracuse students tragically lost in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988. The award is given in honor of her memory and to Syracuse's leading defensive player.
