Allen, Sorgi and Diedrich honored by Northern Athletics Conference

Posted: March 3, 2010

The Northern Athletics Conference announced the awards for the 2009-10 women's basketball season and three Alverno College student-athletes represented the Inferno.

 

Junior point guard Gabby Allen (Milwaukee, Wis./Bay View) was named to the All-Conference First Team, senior guard Lisa Sorgi (Milwaukee, Wis./Greenfield) was named to the All-Conference Second Team and All-Sportsmanship Team and freshman center Rachel Diedrich (Two Rivers, Wis.) was named to the All-Freshman Team.

 

The first and second teams are each six-member teams, the All-Sportsmanship team is 13 members and the All-Freshman team is five members comprised of true freshmen.

 

The Inferno finished the 2009-10 campaign with the best season in school history at 13-13. Their 11-7 conference record put them in a tie for second place in the NAC South Division, earning their first NAC tournament appearance where they lost in overtime to eventual champion Lakeland College in the quarterfinals.

 

"They had a great season," Alverno head coach Brad Duckworth said. "For Gabby to be the first player in the history of our program to be voted to the first team is quite an honor, but really well deserved. There were times this season that she just put us on her back and carried us. Gabby does a lot for us on the floor--she is our point guard, one of our top defenders and leading scorer. I couldn't be more proud of how far she has come. I couldn't be happier to have her back next year and see how much further she can grow."

 

Allen was the NAC's sixth leading scorer with a 14.6 average as she shot 44.8 percent from the field this season. She was also one the top passers in the league with a 2.7 per game assist average (12th best) and did her part on the defensive end averaging 1.1 blocks per game, seventh best in the conference.

 

This is Sorgi's third time being recognized as she was an honorable mention selection in 2008 and named to the All-Sportsmanship team in 2009.

 

"The honor for Lisa is certainly for her performance this season but also her four-year body of work," Duckworth said. "She put this program on her shoulders and said 'I will make sure we become great' and she did that. The Alverno records she holds speak for themselves. Lisa is the hardest worker I have ever coached; she showed up every day and made herself and her team better. This is a great honor for her and I'm really pleased she was recognized."

 

Sorgi, the all-time Alverno scoring leader with 1,244 points, averaged 12.0 per game this season. She snagged 6.3 rebounds on average and was one of the NAC's top shooters with a 46.6 percent mark of accuracy from the floor (7th) and 70.0 percent from the free-throw line. In addition to her four double-doubles this season, she also was among NAC leaders averaging 2.4 assists (15th) and 2.0 steals (13th) per contest.

 

This is Diedrich's second personal honor this season, as she was named to the D3hoops.com National Team of the Week in early December for her performance.

 

"The impact Rachel's made at the post with her shot blocking and scoring has helped our guards tremendously," Duckworth said.

 

Diedrich led the NAC in blocked shots with a 3.5 per game average and is currently sixth in all of NCAA Division III. She averaged 10.7 points and 6.7 rebounds per game, and was 10th in the league in field goal percentage with 44.1 percent accuracy. The rookie also recorded six double-doubles in her first collegiate season.

 

"This season was special in a number of ways," Duckworth said. "But most importantly our team realized just how close they were to a championship. To fall one game short of a division championship and to lose in OT on the road in the tournament to the eventual conference champ leaves us very hungry. Losing Lisa will be very tough, but I look for Gabby and the rest of her teammates to really step up and take us to the next level next year and years to come.

 

"All-conference selections are about individuals, but to be recognized you also have to have team success on the floor. The thing about both of our all-conference players is that they would trade their honor to be playing on Friday in the national tournament."