Michigan State University Athletics
Vanessa King, Natalie Emro Recognized by Big Ten
12/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Dec. 1, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Three Michigan State volleyball student-athletes earned postseason recognition from the Big Ten Conference as announced by the conference office Monday. Junior middle blocker Vanessa King (Spring Lake, Mich.) was named to the 12-member All-Big Ten Team, while freshman setter Natalie Emro (Wildwood, Mo.) was an unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team. The Spartans' lone senior Heather McDaniel (Madison Heights, Mich.) was Michigan State's representative of the Big Ten Volleyball Sportsmanship Award.
King finished the 2008 campaign with a team-high 322 kills while hitting .348 from the middle. Her .348 hitting percentage is the fourth-best single-season hitting percentage in school history. Her .308 career hitting percentage ranks her fourth all-time as well. Not only was King valuable offensively, but she led the team in blocks, posting 136 on the season, 18 of which were solo. Her 1.21 blocks per set ranks seventh in the Big Ten, as does her hitting percentage. King also leads the Spartans in total points with 408.0. King led the Spartans in kills in 11 of their 31 matches and in blocks in 22 of their matches. She was also one of only three Spartans to post a 20-kill efforts in 2008 as she notched 20 against Illinois with just two errors. Her 20 kills were a career-best.
King is the second Spartan selected to the first team in the last three seasons, joining former Spartan AshleyEmro was one of three unanimous choices to the All-Big Ten freshman team as she led the Spartans with 1,245 assists, ranking her fourth all-time amongst MSU freshmen. Emro accounted for 74-percent of MSU's total offense in 2008. Along with her 1,245 assists, Emro posted 144 kills, 71 blocks and 24 aces, good enough for 207.5 total points. She was one of only two setters in the conference to account for better than 70-percent, joining Lexi Zimmerman of Michigan. Her 71 blocks and .275 hitting percentage both rank second on the team behind King. Emro passed out a career-high 60 assists at Illinois this season. Her 10.55 per set ranks her fourth in the Big Ten. She is the only freshman in the Big Ten to rank in the top five of any of the five major statistical categories (hitting percentage, kills, blocks, assists and digs).
Emro becomes the fourth Spartan in school history to be named to the All-Big Ten Freshman Team and is the first selection since King was chosen back in 2006.
McDaniel was the Spartans' honoree for the Big Ten Volleyball Sportsmanship Award after finishing her career on Saturday. McDaniel, the team captain in 2008, was a versatile two-way player all season, tallying 75 kills while collecting 190 digs. She also played in a career-high 107 sets and earned starts in 14 matches this season. McDaniel is now a candidate for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.
No. 1 and defending national champion, Penn State, took home two of the top four awards as Nicole Fawcett earned Player of the Year, while head caoch Russ Rose was honored as the league's top coach. Christine Tan was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year while Michelle Bartsch of Illinois was named Freshman of the Year.
