And the winners are...

Lady spikers stockpile postseason awards

Where there are great players, there's a great team. Where there's a great team, there's a great coach. The Penn State women's volleyball team had them all.

Individual hardware was handed out by the AVCA Div. I All-America Committee to the nation's best volleyball players at the Doubletree Spokane City Centre in Spokane, Wash., during the 1997 Final Four Dec. 18-20.

Prior to Penn State's 3-2 loss to Stanford in the NCAA Championships, it was announced that both teams had three All-American selections.

Senior middle hitter Terri Zemaitis and sophomore setter Bonnie Bremner were honored with first-team selections, while a second-team award went to sophomore middle hitter Lauren Cacciamani.

Penn State coach Russ Rose also collected some hardware of his own. As one of the favorites to win the coach of the year award after leading his team to a 34-2 record and a No. 2 national ranking, Rose did just that. He was named the Tachikara/AVCA National Coach of the Year for the second time this decade. Rose also won the award in 1990.

Rose, never one to boast about personal accolades, said it's a great honor and a nice award, but would prefer not to have been selected.

"How do you accept an individual award in a team sport?" Rose asked.

His players feel otherwise.

"Clearly, coach Rose deserved the award," junior outside hitter Christy Cochran said. "He finally got the recognition he deserved."

All-America selections have become rather routine for Zemaitis. The senior middle hitter picked up her third straight All-American award. A second-team selection in 1995, Zemaitis became a back-to-back first-teamer with this year's announcement.

Bremner, a second-team All-American in her freshmen season, does not put a lot of stock in such awards. In fact, her competitive nature has her more concerned with filling the void of losing the national championship.

"I think everyone who received a personal award still has a little gap," Bremner said. "I don't think any of us feel complete."

While many players would be thrilled with a second-team All-American selection, Rose feels Cacciamani deserved more.

"Lauren, in my mind, could've very easily been the MVP of the Big Ten or a first-team All-American," he said.

Cacciamani is not the only player Rose felt was shortchanged when postseason awards were announced. Cochran, a consistent nemeses for opponents all season, received honorable mention All-Big Ten and was voted to the All-Region team for her play during the 1997 NCAA East Region tournament held at Rec Hall.

"I feel really good about Christy making the All-Region team," Rose said. "She didn't make all-conference, but I clearly thought she was one of the top 12 in the (Big Ten) conference."

Zemaitis and Bremner may continue their run at postseason plaques. The two were nominated on Wednesday, along with four other players, for the Honda Award for women's volleyball. If selected as the winner of the award, Zemaitis or Bremner would become a finalist for the Honda-Broderick Cup. The winner is recognized as the outstanding Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year.