Pizula And Bateman Honored By NSCA
April 27, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
April 27, 2011
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USC volleyball players Andrew Pizula and Kendall Bateman were named All-American Strength and Conditioning Athletes of the Year by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, in recognition of their dedication to strength training and conditioning.
The NSCA honored 247 collegiate and high school athletes from 96 schools with this award.
USC assistant strength and conditioning coach Brent Metz, MEd, CSCS, who supervises the training program for the volleyball teams, selected Pizula and Bateman for the award.
"Andrew strives to perfect each and every movement and stayed all last summer to improve his game and give our team a better defense," said Metz. "He has not only greatly improved his core lifts, his vertical jump and his speed, but the changes were noticeable enough to his teammates that they all stepped up their game. Each player had areas they needed to fix during the off-season and Andrew was able to complete all his goals.
"Kendall is a coach's dream to work with. She focuses on small details and wants to do each lift or movement perfectly. She really wanted to improve this year, so she stayed all summer and never missed a workout. Not only has her strength level gone up, but her improved ability to read and react on the court is something that all the coaches were pleasantly surprised with. Because of her work ethic, she has the attention of her teammates who work hard to keep up."
Pizula,a backup libero on the No. 1-ranked Trojans in 2011, started 16 matches at libero in 2010. His 3.15 digs average last year was a USC record and his 20 digs against Stanford tied a school rally scoring era match record. He helped USC average 11.50 digs per match in 2010, a school rally scoring era season mark.
Bateman was an All-American second teamer in 2010 while setting the Trojans to an NCAA Final Four berth. She was third nationally in assists last season after leading the nation in 2009.
The NSCA All-American Athlete of the Year Award program is in its 32nd year. It is made possible by a grant from Power Systems, Inc.
