GPAC Volleyball Honors; Leimbach Named Player Of The Year

(Courtesy of Midland University Athletics)
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The 2021 Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Volleyball All-Conference Team was released on Tuesday. Six Midland University athletes were named to the teams selected by the league coaches.
Hope Leimbach was selected as the Hauff Mid-America Sports/GPAC Player-of-the-Year. Additionally, she was named the GPAC Setter-of-the-Year and named to the All-GPAC First Team. Joining her on the first team is Taliyah Flores. Brooke Fredrickson and Abbey Ringler were each named to the All-GPAC Second Team while Cortlyn Schaefer and Lauryn Samuelson were named honorable mentions.
Flores, a senior from Papillion, Nebraska, has a team-high 393 kills this season with an average of 3.89 per set, 20th-best in the NAIA. Additionally, she added just over three digs per set, second-best on the team.
Leimbach, a junior from Lincoln, Nebraska, is the first GPAC Player-of-the-Year in program history. This season she ranks 3rd in the NAIA with an average of 11.95 assists per set. She has 1,207 sets assists this season guiding Midland to a team hitting percentage of .241.
Fredrickson, a senior from North Bend, Nebraska, has registered 235 kills offensively and has 243 digs defensively this season. At the service line, she leads the Warriors with 38 ace serves.
Ringler, a freshman from Seward, Nebraska, led the Warriors in hitting percentage this year (.305) with 276 kills. She is also the team leader in blocks with 91 defensive stops at the net.
Samuelson, a sophomore from Oxford, Nebraska, ranks second on the team with 89 blocks, including 74 solo stops. On the attack, she has a .255 hitting percentage with 173 kills.
Schaefer, a freshman from Stromsburg, Nebraska, is hitting .219 in her first season as a Warrior. She has 198 kills along with 44 blocks so far.
“I’m happy for our players that received all-conference recognition from the opposing coaches in the GPAC,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “When your team does well, you’re are going to have individual awards follow.”
“I’m happy for our players that received all-conference recognition from the opposing coaches in the GPAC,” commented head coach Paul Giesselmann. “When your team does well, you’re are going to have individual awards follow.”
“I’m really happy for Hope. Being selected as the GPAC Player of the Year shows the respect that she’s earned within the conference, going back to last year in leading our team to the national championship match. Other coaches see her leadership on the court and the way our offense runs when she’s on top of her game.”
Midland has earned an NAIA Postseason berth and will be hosting Cornerstone University this Saturday, November 20 in Fremont.