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INDIANAPOLIS – The Great Lakes Valley Conference announced Thursday at an awards banquet at Lewis University that Lewis’ redshirt junior outside hitter Kim Vertin, Bellarmine University junior libero Jaclyn Ohlmann, Rockhurst University freshman outside hitter Morgan Rietzke, and University of Southern Indiana head coach Leah Mercer have been honored with the GLVC’s major postseason honors in volleyball. Vertin was named the GLVC Player of the Year, Ohlmann received Libero of the Year, and Rietzke was the unanimous choice by the league coaches as Freshman of the Year, while Mercer was recognized by her peers as Coach of the Year. In addition, eight student-athletes garnered first-team and second-team All-Conference distinction, respectively, while six received honorable mention recognition.

Vertin, a native of Joliet, Ill., guided the Flyers to a 16-2 league record, a 23-8 overall mark, and a national top-25 ranking by averaging 3.94 kills per set. On the year, she finished with a league-best 398 kills, 249 digs, 50 blocks, 20 assists, and 11 aces, and is now fifth in Lewis’ single-season record books for kills. The first-team All-GLVC honoree amassed 11 double-doubles during the regular season and ranks in the Flyers’ top-five statistical categories, including first in season kills (398), second in season digs (249) and receptions per set (0.17), as well as third in blocks (0.50), and fifth in assists (20) per set. This marks the fifth time a Lewis player has claimed GLVC Player of the Year and first since Rachel Ruedi earned the accolade in 2010.

Ohlmann earns the league’s inaugural Libero of the Year honor after leading Bellarmine to its second-straight GLVC Championship Tournament appearance. One of eight first-team All-Conference selections, Ohlmann shattered her record of 550 digs from last season, and currently sits with 682 digs and 1,590 for her career. Her 6.16 digs per set lead the league and rank sixth nationally. For the season, the Louisville, Ky., native also collected 93 assists, 29 service aces, and eight kills, and was a GLVC Baden Offensive Player of the Week honoree on Sept. 30.

Rietzke, an outside hitter from Kansas City, Mo., is the league’s top newcomer and was also named second-team All-Conference after serving as the lead freshman with 371 kills and 3.34 kills per set. She notched 43 blocks, 24 assists, 18 aces in 111 sets for the Hawks, while accumulating nine double-doubles on the year, seven of which came against league opponents. She posted a career-high 22 kills versus Findlay on Sept. 12 and recorded a personal-best three service aces against Maryville on Oct. 18. This year, she was credited with a service ace 12 times. She is the third Rockhurst player to earn GLVC Freshman of the Year and first since Kelsey Stratman shared the honor with Missouri S&T’s Krista Haslag last season.

In her ninth year as the lead woman at Southern Indiana, Mercer earns her first career GLVC Coach of the Year accolade. She has directed the Screaming Eagles to a 24-7 record this season, including a 15-3 mark in GLVC action and 8-2 in East Division play. They are the second-seeded team from the East Division for the 2013 GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament, which begins Friday in Romeoville, Ill. Mercer saw five of her Eagles recognized by the other conference coaches as junior outside hitter Lauren DeShaney and sophomore middle blocker Abbey Winter were second-team selections, while senior setter Jorae Bradbury, senior libero Kayla Heldman, and junior outside hitter Fawn Ryan earned honorable mention accolades. Heldman, Winter and DeShaney also combined for five GLVC weekly awards this year.

Vertin and Ohlmann were joined by six other standouts on the eight-member All-Conference first team, including UIndy junior setter Meghan Binkerd, Lewis sophomore right side Alexis Davito, Missouri-St. Louis senior outside hitter Chelsea Burkle, Rockhurst sophomore setter Whitney Kostal, and Truman State junior outside hitter Allie Brak and sophomore middle hitter Ali Patterson.

Among the 22 student-athletes recognized by the league office, 18 hailed from five teams, led by Southern Indiana with five representatives. UIndy followed with four, while Lewis, Rockhurst and Truman State boasted three honorees each.

A complete list of the 2013 GLVC All-Conference honorees follows:

PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Kim Vertin, LEWIS, OH

LIBERO OF THE YEAR
Jaclyn Olhmann, BU, L

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
MORGAN RIETZKE, RU, OH

COACH OF THE YEAR
Leah Mercer, USI

ALL-GLVC FIRST TEAM
Jaclyn Ohlmann, BU, L
Meghan Binkerd, UINDY, S
Alexis Davito, LEWIS, RS
KIM VERTIN, LEWIS, OH
Chelsea Burkle, UMSL, OH
Whitney Kostal, RU, S
Allie Brak, TSU, OH
Ali Patterson, TSU, MB

ALL-GLVC SECOND TEAM
Brittany Anglemyer, UINDY, MB
Hailey Brown, UINDY, OH
Kenzie Bruggeman, UINDY, OH
Leigh Barea, LEWIS, S
Krista Haslag, S&T, MH
Morgan Rietzke, RU, OH
Lauren DeShaney, USI, OH
Abbey Winter, USI, MB

ALL-GLVC HONORABLE MENTION Krista Gibson, BU, OH
Victoria Mahl, RU, L
Jorae Bradbury, USI, S
Kayla Heldman, USI, L
Fawn Ryan, USI, OH
Meghan Zimmerman, TSU, S