Pitt-Bradford’sKirsten Platz has been named the AMCC Volleyball Player of the Year, andChristina Rauh,Mandy Finch andRose Thacker were also honored on the all-conference team. Head coach Tom Roof was tabbed Coach of the Year after leading the Panthers to the 2016 AMCC championship.
Pitt-Bradford headlined the league’s all-conference team with the most selections, and Platz becomes the fifth Panther in program history to win the AMCC’s top individual award.
Rauh joined Platz on the first-team, and Finch and Thacker were third-team selections. For Rauh, Finch and Thacker, it marks the first time in their careers they were honored on the all-conference squad.
Platz played a big role in leading the Panthers to their second-ever league championship and a school-record 25 wins. The sophomore middle hitter led the AMCC in hitting percentage (.400), blocks per set (1.02), total blocks (106) and solo blocks (49) and ranked near the top in several other categories.
It caps a dominating season in which Platz also ranked second in the AMCC in total kills (328), kills per set (3.15), total service aces (46) and block assists (57). She posted double-digit kills in 20 matches and had five or more blocks in 11 different contests. Against AMCC opponents, Platz hit a blistering .420 while registering 3.67 kills per set.
The Erie, Pa., native was a three-time AMCC Player of the Week and named to the league’s all-tournament team. She was a second-team pick a year ago.
Rauh, a senior setter, led the AMCC in assists per set (8.67), total assists (884), service aces per set (0.65), and total aces (66), and she is one of just 10 players nationally who have four or more triple-doubles. Her .305 hitting percentage trailed only Platz and Thacker, and she averaged 1.30 kills per set. Defensively, Rauh averaged better than three digs per set, third-most on the team.
In the team’s two AMCC tournament wins, she totaled 63 assists, 25 digs, 11 kills, four aces and a block.
The Panama, N.Y., native was a three-time AMCC Player of the Week and named to the conference’s all-tournament team.
Finch, a senior outside hitter, appeared on the all-conference team despite missing five matches to an injury. One of the league’s most versatile hitters, Finch led the Panthers with 3.33 digs per set and was among the team leaders in kills per set (1.81) and service aces per set (0.35).
The Randolph, N.Y., native registered double-digit digs in 16 matches and posted a pair of double-doubles.
Thacker, a senior middle hitter, ranked second only to Platz in the conference with a .321 hitting percentage and averaged 1.84 kills per set. She was among the league leaders in blocks per set (0.56), solo blocks (16) and total blocks (52).
The Grove City, Ohio, native totaled six or more kills in 15 matches and hit .380 against AMCC opponents.
Roof received Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career after guiding the Panthers to a record 25 wins. Predicted to finish seventh in the AMCC preseason poll, Pitt-Bradford went 9-0 against conference opponents and swept D’Youville and Penn State Altoona in the postseason tournament to capture the program’s second league championship.
Pitt-Bradford will face No. 1 Calvin College tonight in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament in Grand Rapids, Mich.
