Blue Devil volleyball program had quiet start

WIAC: 50 YEARS OF WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIPS - While varsity athletic sports for women did not appear on the UW-Stout landscape until the late 1960s and early 1970s, sports, athletics and physical education for women have played a part in Stout's more than 125 year history. This story is one of a series of stories and spotlights over the upcoming year as the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) marks 50 years of sponsoring women's sports championships.


MENOMONIE (October 13, 2020) - The first mention of any competitive type of women's volleyball beyond the Women's Recreation Association (WRA) came in the Nov. 8, 1968 issue of the Stoutonia, the UW-Stout student newspaper.

A very small, one paragraph article tucked underneath an article entitled "Girls Hustle Game Ball to Eau Claire Game," talking about a group of women from Jeter-Tainter-Callahan (residence halls) doing a relay run with the game ball to Eau Claire's Carson Park for the Saturday afternoon football game, and a photo of cross country runners Skypp Lee and John Chartrand, announced competitive volleyball for women.

"All girls interested in competitive volleyball, contact Miss (Kay) Carter in room 215 of the field house by Tuesday, Nov. 11. The first scheduled game will be against Eau Claire the same day," the Stoutonia article read. No follow-up article appeared about the results. 

Today we are featuring all the all-conference selections for UW-Stout. The Blue Devils' first all-conference selection came during the 1978 season when Kim Holtslander was a second team all-conference pick. Since then, the Blue Devils have added 34 all-conference selections. Five Blue Devils have earned All-America honors, with Tanille Hartwig twice getting tabbed All-America, a third team pick in 2002 when she was also selected as the AVCA freshman of the year and a second team pick in 2004, the year the Blue Devils won the WIAC tournament title.

Also earning All-America honors were: Erika Olmstead (1994); Stacy Stoddard (1998, second team); Brooke Viegut (2004) and Steph Cannon (2019, honorable mention). 

Blue Devil coach Jill Jolliff earned WIAC coach of the year honors in 1994 and again in 2004. Judy Kruckman Scholar-Athlete Awards went to Judy Nelson (1984), Stacy Stoddard (1998), and Steph Cannon (2019). 


UW-Stout All-Time All-WIAC Selections
Laura Bogenschutz (2002-HM)
Molly Brion (2014-HM, 2015-HM)
Carol Bufe (1989)
Steph Cannon (2017-HM, 2017-DEF, 2018, 2018-DEF, 2019, 2019-DEF, 2019-DEF POY)
Jennifer Carter (1990, 1991, 1992)
Monica Cyrus (1997, 1998)
Morgan Denny (2012-HM, 2014)
Rachel Eidet (2000-HM, 2001-HM, 2001-DEF)
Michelle Espe (1987)
Megan Frazier (1995-HM)
Tanille (Zenner) Hartwig (2002, 2003-HM, 2004)
Erin Heger (2002-DEF, 2004)
Casey Huntoon (2007-DEF)
Kim Holtslander (1978-Second)
Jennie Kelley (1995-HM)
Heather Ketola (1994-HM)
Lydia Kneubuehl (2019-HM)
Jenny Kraczek (1999-HM)
Maggie Meixl (2007-HM, 2008)
Kate Mikutowski (2009-HM, 2011-HM, 2012)
Alicia Mizer (2009-DEF)
Jenny McDermid (2005-HM, 2006-HM)
Judy Nelson (1983-Second)
Lexie Nelson (2018-HM)
Erika Olmstead (1993-HM, 1994)
Brooke Palmer (1999-HM, 2000, 2001-HM)
Ashley Pratt (2015-HM, 2016-HM)
Alissa Proshek (1992, 1993, 1994)
Amber Ripley (2018-HM)
Kim Roshell (2001)
Jean Saxton (1982)
Gretchen Schroer (2003)
Stacy Stoddard (1997, 1998)
Kennedy Strain (2016-HM, 2017-HM, 2018)
Brooke Viegut (2002, 2004)
Karley Wiensch (2013-HM, 2014-HM)