Livingston and Fitzgerald Named All-Region
December 06, 2001 | Volleyball
Lizzy Fitzgerald and Sherisa Livingston, seniors on the University of Wisconsin volleyball team, have been named to the 2001 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Mideast Region team. Pete Waite was named the AVCA Mideast Regional Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year.
Livingston becomes the first four-time all-region honoree at the UW while Fitzgerald was named to the 12-person honor team for the second consecutive year. Both will now be placed on the ballot for All-American consideration, which will be announced Dec. 12.
Fitzgerald, a 6-1 setter, was named the 2001 Big Ten Conference Player of the Year. She is only the third UW athlete to be honored as player of the year in volleyball joining Lisa Boyd (1990) and Sherisa Livingston (co-2000). A 2000 second-team All-American, Fitzgerald ranks fourth in the nation, averaging 13.80 assists per game. She ranks third on the team with 0.89 blocks per game and also averages 0.96 kills, 0.21 service aces and 2.38 digs per game. A three-year starter, Fitzgerald ranks third on the UW career list for assists with 3,890. She needs only 218 assists to move into second place.
Livingston, a 6-2 middle blocker, was a unanimous selection to the 2001 All-Big Ten team. She leads the league with a .409 hitting percentage and ranks second with 5.14 kills per game. Livingston also ranks among the top-10 nationally in both categories. She also leads the team with 1.17 blocks per game. A 2000 first-team All-American, Livingston has recorded double-figure kills in all 30 matches this season. A four-year starter, she set the UW career record for kills this season and ranks seventh on the Big Ten career list with 1,898 kills. Livingston could become only the seventh player in conference history to record 2,000 kills in a career. She also ranks sixth in the league and third at the UW with 577 career blocks.
In only three years at Wisconsin, Waite has become the most successful volleyball coach in UW history. He has a record of 82-17 with the Badgers for a .828 winning percentage. Waite also has the highest Big Ten winning percentage at .850 (51-9) of any UW volleyball coach. Under Waite, the Badgers have appeared in three NCAA Tournaments, including a second-place finish in 2000, and won back-to-back Big Ten titles in 2000 and 2001.
