Nov. 13, 2004

ALLENDALE, Mich. - Three Wayne State volleyball players earned awards from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Saturday night at the league tournament. WSU junior Sei Hee Hwang (Toronto, Ont./Cedarbrae) was named GLIAC Libero of the Year while Elisa Joris (Walled Lake, Mich./Western) was selected to the All-GLIAC Second Team and Megan Smolen (Grosse Ile, Mich.) earned Honorable Mention All-GLIAC honors.

In her first season as libero, Hwang took pride in the defensive position, breaking school, conference and national records. Hwang averaged an NCAA Division II record 7.08 digs per game and totaled a school benchmark of 602 digs in just 85 games. She recorded 40 or more digs in three matches including her career-high and GLIAC record 46 digs that came against Michigan Tech on Oct. 10. Hwang's 42 digs in the Hillsdale match is the second highest mark for a three-game contest in Division II history.

Joris, a redshirt junior middle blocker who had to sit out in 2003 after transferring from Grand Valley State, led the GLIAC in blocks at 1.83 per game and was third in the nation. She also ranked fourth in the conference in points (5.03) and led WSU in kills (311) and hitting percentage (.274).

Smolen played solid ball all over the court as she was first in aces (29), second in kills (262) and digs (307), and fourth in blocks (51) for the Warriors. She recorded a total of 12 double-doubles on the season.

It marks the second time in their collegiate careers that Joris and Smolen have earned All-GLIAC awards.

Ashland raked in a pair of major awards as senior outside hitter Carrie Ritchie was named Player of the Year and Connie Surowicz was Coach of the Year. Northwood's Goranna Maricic earned the Freshman of the Year award.