Falcon volleyball players Melissa Tvrdik (Sr., Farwell, Minn.) and Krystle Brune (Sr., Oakdale, Minn. Tartan HS) have been named 2003 AVCA All-Americans.

Tvrdik, a middle hitter, was named to the first team and Brune, an outside hitter, was named to the third team. The teams are picked by the AVCA Div. III All-America committee comprised of coaches from across the nation. The awards will be presented on Dec. 4 at the NCAA Div. III women's National Championship banquet at the Ontario, Calif., Convention Center. The banquet is held in conjunction with the Div. III national championships which is being played this year at the University of La Verne.

This is just one of many post-season awards that Tvrdik has won. Earlier this year Tvrdik was named to the AVCA All-Midwest region team, to the first All-WIAC unit, she was named the WIAC's Player of the Year and named the WIAC volleyball Scholar-Athlete.

Tvrdik led the team with a .358 hitting percentage and finished with 457 kills, second on the team. She led the Falcons with 50 aces and with 131 total blocks. She finished with 191 digs.

Tvrdik is one of UWRF's top career players. She is currently third in career kills (1,191), fifth in career kill attempts (2,648), second in career kill percentage (.325) and second in career block assists (329). UWRF is 112-41 during her four-year career. UWRF has won two WIAC titles (2002, 2003) and competed in the NCAA Div. III tournament in 2000 and 2003.She has had double digits in kills in 68 of 111 career matches played. She had double digit kills and double digit digs in seven career matches.

This season she was the UWRF Player of the Week four times and was the WIAC Player of the Week once. She led team in kill percentage (.347), solo blocks (19), block assists (120) and total blocks (139). She had a career high 14 digs against Nebraska-Wesleyan (Oct. 10) and Whitewater (Sept. 20). Tvrdik had double digit kills in 30 of 39 matches and had double digit kills and digs in six matches.

In 2002, she was named the team's Most Valuable Offensive Player and was named to the All-WIAC first team. She was named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region team and then was named to the AVCA second All-American team. She was named the UW-RF Player of the Week four times. Tvrdik led team in kill percentage (.345), solo blocks (17), block assists (116), and total blocks (133). She had her career high kill match (21) vs. Trinity on Oct. 26, 2002 and had double digit kills in 24 of 39 matches. She had double digit kills and digs once.

In 2001, she was named the team's Most Valuable Player and was given honorable mention to the All-WIAC squad. She was named the UWRF Player of the Week three times. She led the Falcons in kill percentage (.261), solo blocks (14), block assists (97) and total blocks (111). She had double digit kills in 14 of 33 matches.

In 2000 Tvrdik was named the team's Most Improved Player.

Tvrdik is the second women’s volleyball student-athlete in school history to receive the WIAC’s top scholastic honor, joining Melissa Mattson who won the award in 2000. Mattson also was named the league's Most Valuable Player that same season. The WIAC Scholar-Athlete award is presented to the most outstanding senior from each conference sport during the year who exhibits the greatest combination of performance and achievements in academics, athletics and leadership.

Brune holds several season and career records for the Falcons. Single season records include: fourth in season kills (503 in 2003) and first in kills attempts (1,456 in 2003). She is first in career games played (531), first in career kills (1,707) and first in career kills attempts (4,874), seventh in career kill percentage (.231) and seventh in career block assists (219).

In 2003 Brune led the Falcons with 503 kills and finished with a .242 hitting percentage. She had 143 digs, 14 solo blocks and 67 block assists. This year she finished in double digits in kills in 27 of the team's 41 matches. She had double digit digs and kills in two matches. She had a season high 24 kills against Bethel and had double digit kills in 15 straight matches.

Brune was named to the first All-WIAC team for three straight seasons. She was the team's Player of the Week three times in 2003.

Tvrdik and Brune join four other Falcons who have been named to the AVCA All-America teams. Cara Gustafson was named in 1995 and 1996, Jen Frodl in 1996, Melissa Mateson in 1999 and 2000 and Karen ZumMallen in 2002.

UW-RF finished the 2003 season with a 35-6 overall record. The Falcons tied for first in the WIAC regular season standings with a 7-1 record. It was the second year in a row that the Falcons have tied for the No. 1 spot in the WIAC. The Falcons advanced to the NCAA Div. III Tournament and won one match before being eliminated.

Go to the AVCA web site.

Go to the 2003 Falcon statistics.

Tvrdik's Season, Career Statistics

Brune's Season, Career Statistics