TicketsApril 28, 2009
The Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Women's Sports Association has announced its 2009 award winners and University of Cincinnati head volleyball coach Reed Sunahara was named the College Coach of the Year, while senior Jessie Nevitt and junior Jasmine Cotten were two of six representatives selected as the College Sportswomen of the Year.
Nevitt led the volleyball team to a share of the program's first BIG EAST Conference regular-season championship and their seventh NCAA Tournament appearance. Nevitt averaged 3.13 kills per set and 1.34 blocks per set in 2008, while hitting at a .389 clip. In BIG EAST conference-only action, Nevitt was the only player to finish in the Top 10 in hitting percentage (.461), kills (3.54 kps), and blocks (1.30 bps). Due to her play in conference, Nevitt was a unanimous first-team all-BIG EAST selection, making her the only player in UC volleyball history to earn four first-team all-conference awards in a career. Nevitt also was named an AVCA honorable-mention all-American, becoming the first Bearcat to earn three AVCA all-America honors.
For her career, Nevitt finished with 1,498 career kills and 652 total blocks and she is one of just two BIG EAST players to finish their career with at least 1,400 career kills and 600 total blocks. Nevitt is a fixture in the UC career record books as she ended her career ranking on eight career lists, including kills (6th, 1,498), kills per set (8th, 3.29 kps), attempts (8th, 3,223), hitting percentage (3rd, .357), solo blocks (T-8th, 77), block assists (1st, 575), total blocks (1st, 652), and blocks per set (4th,1.43 bps).
Cotten was the lone Bearcat athlete to qualify for the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships finishing 14th in the pentathlon. At the BIG EAST Championships, Cotten was named the BIG EAST's Most Outstanding Field Performer. On Day 1, Cotten was the champion of the pentathlon with an NCAA-automatic qualifying score of 4,073 points. The performance shattered her school-record, which was set a weekend prior at the All-Ohio Championships with a score of 3,958. Within the pentathlon, Cotten finished in first-place in the high jump after clearing a height of 5' 10 1/2", which was a NCAA-provisional qualifying mark. On Day 2 of competition, Cotten placed fifth in the high jump with a height of 5'-08.50". Cotten has already registered a NCAA outdoor provisional mark in the heptathlon after finishing second at the Alabama Relays.
Sunahara earned his first BIG EAST Coach of the Year honor and the second Coach of the Year honor in his career. Sunahara was named the Conference USA Coach of the Year in 2001 after leading the Bearcats to arguably one of the most successful seasons in school history. In 2001, Sunahara led the Bearcats to a C-USA regular-season championship, and the program's first NCAA Tournament win with a victory over Xavier. Sunahara has guided the Bearcats' volleyball program to eight 20-plus win seasons in nine seasons as head coach.
The Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Women's Sports Association Sixteenth Annual Awards Dinner will take place Tuesday, April 28, at 7 p.m. at the Drawbridge Inn in Fort Mitchell, Ky. Individual tickets are $20 for students and $25 for adults. For ticket information, call 513-321-0293 ext. 1.