Odenthal Named Third-Team All-American
December 15, 2004 | Volleyball
Jill Odenthal, a senior on the University of Wisconsin volleyball team, has been named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Third Team. She moves up to the third team after earning honorable mention All-America honors in 2003 and becomes the 10th All-American in UW volleyball history. Junior Sheila Shaw was also selected picking up honorable mention All-America honors.
Each of the three AVCA All-America Teams is comprised of 12 athletes, while the AVCA All-America honorable mention selections are AVCA All-Region selections not chosen to one of the three AVCA All-America teams. The awards will be presented along with the announcement of the AVCA National Player of the Year on Thursday at the AVCA All-America/Player of the Year Banquet at the Long Beach (Calif.) Westin Hotel.
'This is a great honor for Jill and for the Badger volleyball program,' said UW coach Pete Waite. 'She really improved her defensive and passing game this season, and she was a clutch player for us all year. She was unstoppable during the NCAA tournament matches, especially versus Hawaii. It's exciting for Odie and I'm happy that her game on the court really peaked in the last weeks of her career.'
Odenthal, a 6-0 opposite hitter, was an honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference and AVCA All-Mideast Region selection in 2004. She ranked second on the team with 3.06 kills per game and recorded a career-high 25 kills to lead the Badgers over second-ranked Hawai'i in the NCAA regional semifinals. The Geneva, Ill., native was named to the 2003 All-Big Ten team, the 2003 AVCA All-Mideast Region team, was a four-time all-tournament selection and was named to the 2001 Big Ten All-Freshman team.
Shaw, a 6-1 middle blocker, was a unanimous pick to the 2004 All-Big Ten Conference team and also earned AVCA All-Mideast Region honors. She led the Big Ten with a career-best 1.36 blocks per game and led the Badgers' with 3.81 kills per game, which ranked eighth in the Big Ten. Shaw was named the Co-Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 1, the most valuable player of the 2004 InnTowner Invitational and to the 2004 Jayhawk Invitational All-Tournament team.
