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February 28, 2008
By
Cynthia Henning, Trojan Volleyball Head Coach
(Madison, SD) -
The Dakota
State University volleyball program held its annual banquet and
individual awards were presented to Dominique Lee, Laura Lanoue,
and Rachael Jensen. Each year, the Trojan Volleyball
program holds an end of season awards banquet and the players
vote on the Most Improved, Most Inspiration, and Most Valuable
players for the preceding season. The recipients received
a plaque to commarate their accomplishments. With a young
squad, the awards were dominated by young players which bodes
well for the future of Trojan Volleyball.
 Dominique
Lee, freshman middle/outside hitter, from Hurley, SD was
selected as the Most Improved Volleyball Player. Lee
played for the Vikings of Viborg during her high school career.
During her freshman year at Dakota State, she saw action seven
matches for the Trojans. "Dom has just really displayed a
great desire to learn and get better each day that she is in the
gym," said head coach Cynthia Henning. "During the off
season, Dom has continued to improve and the changes and
improvements in her game will be even more obvious when we get
into spring ball." Along with the seven varsity matches,
Lee played in the JV matches as starting middle and/or outside
hitter for the Trojans. Lee is the daughter of Troy and
Amy Lee and is majoring in Marketing at Dakota State.
Junior libero and Tracy, MN native Laura Lanoue was selected by
her teammates as the Most Inspirational
Player for 2007. Lanoue, in her first season as libero for
the Trojans, led the Dakota Athletic Conference in digs per
game. Lanoue averaged 7.6 per game and played in all 31
matches for the Trojans. Lanoue is a two year starter for
the Trojans and played defensive specialist during her sophomore
year. Lanoue has racked up 1324 digs for her career which
puts her fifth all time in the Trojan record books. Lanoue
is second for most digs in a game (19) and in a match (44);
Lanoue is first in the Trojan record books with 883 digs in a
season, breaking two time All-Conference/All-Region and Libero
of the Year Ashley Brassfield's record by 120 digs. Coach
Henning commented, "Laura has just really come into her own on
the court. It being her first year at libero Laura, I
felt, did a very good job for us. She had a good learning
curve and was definitely one of the best liberos in our
conference." Lanoue is the daughter of Greg and Karen
Lanoue and is a business major.
 Sophomore
outside hitter Rachael Jensen took home the hardware for the
2007 Most Valuable Player award for the Trojans. Jensen,
from Beresford, SD, registered 355 kills for the Trojans which
was more than double the production from her freshman year.
Jensen played in all 31 matches for the Trojans and has started
in every match since she began her career at Dakota State.
Jensen is currently second for most kills in a match (27) and
kills in a game (9). Jensen averaged 3.1 kills per game
which put her as one of the top twelve hitters in the Dakota
Athletic Conference for 2007. Along with her offensive
capabilities, Jensen also ranks ninth in the Trojan record books
for digs in a season with 465. If Jensen keeps on track in
the early part of the 2008 season, she should break into the top
ten for kills in a career and digs in a career. "Rachael
has continued to improve every match and the improvement she
showed from her freshman to sophomore season was very
impressive. She has begun displaying great maturity on the
court and is a player that other players, both on and off the
court, turn to," said Coach Henning. Jensen is the
daughter of Mark and Jonda Jensen and is majoring in Biology at
Dakota State.
Nick Huntimer,
Dakota State Sports Information Director
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