Women's Basketball 3/6/2011 8:07:00 PM Green Bay Athletics

Hoewisch and Tetschlag Share Horizon League Player of the Year Honors

GREEN BAY, Wis. (GreenBayPhoenix.com) - On the heels of completing its perfect 18-0 conference season for the second time in three years, the No. 15/12 Green Bay (29-1, 18-0 HL) women's basketball team picked up three major Horizon League post-season awards announced by the league office Sunday.

Seniors Celeste Hoewisch (Hortonville, Wis.) and Kayla Tetschlag (Sheboygan, Wis.) have been named Co-Player of the Year while Hoewisch has been named Co-Defensive Player of the Year. In addition, for the third time in his four-year career at Green Bay, head coach Matt Bollant has been named Coach of the Year while Tetschlag has been named to the All-Defensive Team for the first time in her career and Julie Wojta (Mishicot, Wis.) received Second Team All-League honors for the second-consecutive season.

Co-Player of the Year: Hoewisch and Tetschlag are the sixth and seventh different players from Green Bay to be honored with the conference Player of the Year award. This is also the second time in three years there have been Horizon League Co-Players of the Year.

"It's really fitting and deserving for both Celeste and Kayla to be named Player of the Year," said head coach Matt Bollant. "They've both had a terrific year, playing well on both ends of the court and representing Green Bay in a classy manner."

Against Horizon League opponents throughout regular-season play, Tetschlag finished seventh in scoring averaging 15.9 points per game while Hoewisch was 13th averaging 14.2 points per contest. In addition, Tetschlag was ninth in rebounding grabbing 8.0 boards per contest, second in field-goal percentage (.575), third in free-throw percentage (.855) and tied with Wojta for sixth in defensive rebounds (6.0).

"It's definitely an honor to receive this award and I couldn't have picked a better teammate than Celeste to share it with," said Tetschlag. "Celeste is deserving of it by herself. It just goes to show our team has made an impression and being recognized for the work we've put in."

Meanwhile Hoewisch finished regular-season conference play seventh in field-goal percentage (.485), second in three-point field-goal percentage (.444), eighth in free-throw percentage (.785) and seventh in assists (3.7).

"It feels good to share the honor of this award with Kayla," said Hoewisch. "Obviously we've worked really hard and it was great to go 18-0 in conference play. I look at it as more of a team award."

All-League First Team: As the top two vote getters in postseason award selections, Hoewisch and Tetschlag were also both First-Team All-League selections for the second-consecutive season.

All-League Second Team: Wojta was a Second-Team All-League selection after finishing conference play third in assists averaging 4.1 per contest. Wojta led the league with a 1.9 assist/turnover ratio dishing out 73 assists compared to 38 turnovers.

"Julie was deserving of a first team selection but it's an honor for her to be an all-conference selection," said Bollant. "She's a complete player, having 110 assists on the year, especially as our five player, is amazing. The little things she does on the court makes us a better team."

Wojta closed regular-season league play 12th in scoring averaging 14.4 points per game, sixth in field-goal percentage (.500) and eighth in both rebounding (8.1) and steals (1.8).

"It sounds cliché but the honor of being selected to the second team is really a team award," said Wojta. "Everyone is so unselfish and it's just fun to be a part of this team."

Co-Defensive Player of the Year/All-Defensive Team: For the first time in program history, Green Bay has a conference Defensive Player of the Year in Hoewisch. The senior shares the award with Cleveland State senior Shawnita Garland.

"To be mentioned with Shwanita Garland is an honor," said Hoewisch. "As a team we're so good defensively and I really look at it as another team award. I'm honored and take a lot of pride in my defense just like the rest of our team does."

"If you think of our defense and how we play, it starts with Celeste," Bollant said. "She does the little things and is a warrior on the court, playing with great energy every possession."

Both Hoewisch and Tetschlag were named to the All-Defensive Team. This is Hoewisch's second-consecutive and Tetschlag's first as an All-Defensive Team selection. It's the fifth-consecutive season Green Bay has had a player on the All-Defensive Team and second time in five years it has had two players receive the honor.

"Kayla is always at the right place at the right time," said Bollant about Tetschlag's defensive play. "Our defense works so well because of her being in the right position and anticipation."

Hoewisch finished regular-season play third against league opponents averaging 2.5 steals per game while Tetschlag tied Garland at fourth averaging 2.4 picks per contest.

"I can certainly say that this award I am most proud of because we take a lot of pride in our defense and we really work hard on it in practice, even so more than our offense," Tetschlag said.

Coach of the Year: Fourth-year head coach Matt Bollant picked up Horizon League Coach of the Year honors for the third time in his career at Green Bay. This is the 10th time in program history Green Bay has received the Coach of the Year award.

"I'm happy for our staff, It's not a coach award it's a staff and program award," said Bollant. "I'm thankful for our great team and staff that does everything that is asked of them."

This season Bollant led the Phoenix to an 18-0 record in conference play for the second time in three years. In addition, Green Bay has captured 29 wins in 30 games, the best in the 38-year program history. Under Bollant's leadership, Green Bay recently received its highest ranking in both national top 25 polls with its No. 15 ranking in the AP Top 25 Poll and No. 12 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.

Green Bay's current 20-game, regular-season winning streak is the third longest in program history while its 96.6 winning percentage is second-best in the nation behind Connecticut.

"To step into a role and have to fill big shoes and handle it the way coach Bollant did and with as much class as he does, just proves what a great coach he is," said Tetschlag. "He's grown so much over the years I've been here and I think he's one of the best in the nation."

"This staff is amazing," Hoewisch added. "Having the privilege of being with coach Bollant for four years is something I'm proud of."

Green Bay will begin postseason play Wednesday, March 9 as it hosts its quarterfinal game of the Horizon League tournament at 7 p.m. at the Kress Events Center. Green Bay will play the winner of Monday's first round game featuring the No. 8 and No. 9 seed. To order tickets for Wednesday's game featuring the Phoenix, click here.

HORIZON LEAGUE POSTSEASON AWARD RESULTS:

CO-PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Kayla Tetschlag, Green Bay
Celeste Hoewisch, Green Bay

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR
Angela Rodriguez, Milwaukee

CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE YEAR
Shawnita Garland, Cleveland State
Celeste Hoewisch, Green Bay

SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Alyssa Pittman, Butler

COACH OF THE YEAR
Matt Bollant, Green Bay

FIRST TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
Celeste Hoewisch, Green Bay

Kayla Tetschlag, Green Bay

Shawnita Garland, Cleveland State

Lindsay Laur, Milwaukee

LaShawna Thomas, Wright State

SECOND TEAM ALL-LEAGUE
Julie Wojta, Green Bay

Chloe Hamilton, Butler

Brandi Brown, Youngstown State