Eric the Red Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Kitchener's Pavan caps brilliant season with prestigious U.S. volleyball award Forest Heights graduate head and shoulders above the best MELINDA DALTON TheRecord.com photo WILLIAM LAUER, LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR Sarah Pavan was named top player in NCAA women's volleyball. (Jan 19, 2007) Kitchener native Sarah Pavan now has one more trophy for her well-stocked mantel. The 20-year-old volleyball phenom, who led the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers to the national championship in December, has been named the winner of the 2006-07 Honda Sports Award in volleyball. "I'm really excited about it," Pavan said yesterday of the latest achievement flowing from an extraordinary year on the volleyball court. The award was announced yesterday but Pavan learned of the honour a few days ago. Nebraska's head coach, John Cook, has compared the Honda Award for volleyball to the Heisman Trophy in football. "I didn't really understand the magnitude of the award until I took a look at the past winners and got to understand the history behind," Pavan said in an interview from Lincoln, Neb. "Just to be part of that group is amazing." Many of the past winners, including Flo Hyman and Logan Tom, served as inspiration to Pavan when she was learning to master the sport. "Those are some of the best players in the world that I grew up watching," she said. "They were definitely huge role models for me. . . . Seeing my name alongside theirs is a huge honour." The award is given annually to the top female athletes in each of the 12 sports sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The winners of all 12 Honda Sports Awards were made public yesterday. Ballots were cast by 1,000 administrators at NCAA member schools as part of the Collegiate Women Sports Awards program. Pavan, a six-foot-five-inch, right-side hitter, beat three other nominees to claim the Honda title, including last year's winner, the University of Washington's Courtney Thompson. "Everybody that has found out has been so excited for me," said Pavan, who returned to school last week after spending the holidays with her family in Kitchener and her boyfriend's family in Texas. "It's nice to have that support around here. I feel really good about it." A graduate of Forest Heights Collegiate Institute, Pavan has already racked up her share of accolades in this, her third year of university. Not only did her team keep up its No. 1 ranking in the NCAA all season -- only the third team in history to do so -- Pavan herself took home the honour of top student athlete in NCAA Division 1 of U.S. college women's volleyball in November. In 2006 alone, Pavan earned the NCAA Championship Most Outstanding Player award and the American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Year. She was also named ESPN The Magazine's 2006 Academic all-American of the Year for her volleyball prowess and her perfect 4.00 grade point average in biochemistry. "I don't think it could have been any better," Pavan said of her extraordinary year. Along with the title of Honda Sports Award winner, Pavan receives an automatic nomination for the Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year award, which will be announced in June. mdalton@therecord.com Quote Link to comment
Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red Posted January 20, 2007 Share Posted January 20, 2007 Now what's left for her to do??? I say sign with an agent and go to the pros...............oh wait........ Quote Link to comment
BIGREDIOWAN Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Play beach volleyball in those tight outfits!!!! Quote Link to comment
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