– South Dakota volleyball players Kendall Kritenbrink, Sydney Dimke, Melissa Firtko and Brittany Jessen were all named to the All-Summit League team Thursday.
The 12-member team was voted on by the league’s head coaches.
South Dakota had the most all-league honorees with Denver finishing second at three. Fort Wayne’s Emily Spencer was named the league’s Player of the Year, IUPUI’s Beth Howard was the Defensive Player of the Year and Denver’s Bailey Karst was the Setter of the Year.
Four is the highest number of all-conference honorees in program history. The Coyotes previous high of three was set three times: first in 2004 when USD was in the NCC, then in 2010 in the Great West and again last season in the Summit League.
Kritenbrink, USD’s senior outside hitter who was last season’s league Player of the Year, will finish her career earning all-Summit League honors in all four years of play. During league play, she was third in the league in total kills (255) and total points (284.5) and was fourth in kills per set (4.11) and points per set (4.6). The Gretna, Neb., native was also been named to the Summit League all-Tournament team once in her career.
Dimke, a junior outside hitter from Ham Lake, Minn., earns her first all-league honor after recording the league’s sixth-best hitting percentage (.321) and 13th most kills (172) in league play. Dimke was named to the all-freshman team in 2012.
Firtko, a senior middle blocker from Racine, Wis., led the league in total blocks (79) and block assists (64) during the conference season. She was also second in hitting percentage (.369), blocks per set (1.25) and solo blocks (15).
On top of her all-league honors, freshman setter Jessen was also named to the league’s all-freshman team. The freshman out of Mendota Heights, Minn., was second in assists per set (11.22) and total assists (707) in league play.
The Coyotes will begin play in the Summit League Tournament on Friday when they play Fort Wayne at 6 p.m. CT. A live stream of the match will be available on the league’s website.
