JOHNSON, Vt.-The Northern Vermont University-Johnson women's volleyball team capped off the 2018 season winning 10 matches. The 10 wins was the most for the program in a single season.
Northern Vermont-Johnson coach Keven John collects his first NAC Women's Volleyball Coach of the Year honor in his first season with the Badgers. No stranger to success, John was recognized by his peers as Coach of the Year at his prior post, DII Western State Colorado University, in 2015. John inherited a program at NVU-Johnson that went 0-20 in 2017 and never won more than 5 matches in a season. The Badgers collected 10 wins in 2018 for a ten-fold improvement.
The Badgers had impressive wins over in state foes Castleton University and Northern Vermont University-Lyndon. While also beating Paul Smith's College by a score of 3-0 in their first home tri-match of the season. After losing early in the season to Green Mountain College the Badgers revenged their loss at home with a 3-1 win. The Badgers were led by a few new faces. Nikola Knapova (Presov, Slovakia) was named to the North Atlantic Conference First Team All-Conference. Knapova led the NAC with 1.01 service aces per set and is in the top 2 for kills and kills per set. Over the course of the season Knapova recorded 229 kills, 3.42 kills per set, 68 service aces and 194 digs. She currently ranks third all-time in kills and fifth all time in service aces. She was named North Atlantic Conference Women's Volleyball Player of the Week once this season (9/16/18). Brooke Scheier (Milford, NJ) was impressive for the Badgers. Scheier recorded 162 kills and 149 digs on the season. She was second on the team in kills per set averaging 2.42.
Julie Van Etten (Montrose, PA) was named to the Sportsmanship Team for the 2018 season. Van Etten led the Badgers in assists with 456. She ranks second all-time in assists for the Badgers. Van Etten was named the North Atlantic Conference Rookie of the Week once this season.
Head Coach Keven John believes that the best is yet to come, " Looking back on a season filled with so many accomplishments makes me excited for the future".