Dec. 16, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Senior libero Kate Nobilio (Johnsburg, Ill./Johnsburg) and junior middle blocker Sabel Moffett (Temecula, Calif./Chapparal) have both been named to the AVCA All-American Honorable Mention team. It marks the first All-American honor for the program since Madelyn Meneghetti was named a second-team CVCA All-American in 1984.
"I'm extremely excited for both Kate and Sabel," said head coach Keylor Chan. "Both of them had outstanding seasons and were both key to our team success this year. To have two players honored in this magnitude is a huge boost to our program."
Both Moffett and Nobilio were named AVCA Mideast Region All-Americans, marking the first time in program history that a pair of Wildcats have been honored. The duo joins Erika Lange (2002) and Chelsy Hyser (2007 - honorable mention), doubling the number of athletes to garner regional All-America status.
Nobilio recently was the first player in Wildcat history to be named the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Year. A three-time Defensive Player of the Week, she closed out her impressive Northwestern career with 2,194 digs, which ranks second all-time in Big Ten history. In 2009, Nobilio notched her fourth-straight 500-dig season, finishing with 529 on the year and leading the conference with 4.60 digs per set. She closes out her career as Northwestern's single match (38 at Illinois in 2008), single-season (603 in 2007) and career dig leader, and hold four of the top-five single-season records in program history.
Moffett became the first Wildcat since Lange in 2003 to be named an All-Big Ten selection. Her 398 kills and 165 blocks led Northwestern, as her 137 block assists and 165 total blocks both rank third all-time in a single season in program history. Moffett, who led the conference in both solo blocks (28) and total blocks, ranks fifth in the Big Ten in blocks per set (1.40) and sixth in kills per set (3.37), hitting percentage (.349) and points per set (4.25). Her .349 hitting percentage is also a new single-season program record, surpassing Erika Lange's .343 in 2002.
The Wildcats closed out the 2009 season with an overall record of 16-16, doubling the number of victories from the previous year. Northwestern also jumped five spots in the Big Ten standings, finishing in sole possession of sixth place after posting a 7-13 conference record.