ST. PAUL, Minn. - Being named to the NCAA Division II National Championship All-Tournament Team was quite an accomplishment for a true freshman middle hitter, as Cassie Haag (Volleyball) earned her second CU Female Athlete of the Week honor, beating out four other teammates who were also All-Tournament selections, unofficially making her the best of the best at the Division II Women's Volleyball National Championships. Meanwhile, senior Craig Heiman (Basketball) averaged over 20 points per game to earn his third CU Male Athlete of the Week honor in the young basketball season.
The leader of the Golden Bear volleyball championship run came from an unlikely source, a freshman middle blocker named Cassie Haag (Plymouth, Minn.) Haag tore up three opponents ranked among the top 10 nationally and got her first taste of a National Championship, the third straight for the Concordia volleyball team. Haag put down 37 kills for a 3.70 kill per set average while also leading the team with a .484 hitting percentage, by far the best mark on the squad. But quite possibly the largest impact was had on the defensive end with a sudden precision in blocking. Haag averaged 1.6 blocks per set throughout the tournament and had countless more touches that made digging balls a refresher in basic fundamentals for the rest of the Golden Bear defense.
Haag marked double figures in kills in every match of the tournament and had an astonishing nine blocks to push her team past their biggest challenge in #2 Cal State San Bernardino in the semifinals. She returned to the championship match to lead the team with 13 kills and four blocks. Although the team was held to a low .174 hitting average by the tough Lady Buff defense, Haag found plenty of holes on the West Texas A&M side of the court and finished with a .417 average. She was one of five Concordia athletes named to the 2009 National Championship All-Tournament Team.
Concordia senior Craig Heiman continues to make waves with his scoring ability, averaging 20.5 points along with 8.0 rebounds last weekend as the Golden Bears dropped a couple nail-biters. He dropped in 29 points and 10 rebounds on #24 Winona State and was the catalyst for Concordia’s ability to overcome a 27 point first half deficit, putting in a game-tying bucket with 2:41 to play in regulation before a layup gave Concordia a four point advantage late. With the scoring binge, Heiman has now moved up to XX on the NSIC career scoring leaders with 916 points and is inching closer to Concordia’s all-time record with 1,424 points, just 19 shy of Jeff Chamberlain’s record 1,443. He has already scored 100 points on the young 2009-10 season while averaging a career-high 7.2 rebounds.
