Sports briefs

Volleyball

Leanne Lewis is added to the PSU volleyball staff

One of Portland State’s head volleyball coach Jeff Mozzochi’s main objectives was to get alumni involved with the program again. He has done just that by announcing that Leanne Lewis (formerly Leanne Peters), a PSU legend, will return to the school as an assistant coach.

“Leanne brings back a lot of the tradition since she has been through this program at its peak,” Mozzochi said. “She can relate to the players and brings a fresh perspective to the program. She has a great personality which helps in recruiting and from a technical aspect, she has many insights as a former player.”

Lewis was recruited and coached by Mozzochi during his first stint as Portland State coach. She played for the Vikings from 1990-93 and led her squads to four top-four national finishes, including the 1992 team that won the National Championship. She is one of two players in NCAA Division II history to be named an All-American four times. She still holds the Viking record for career kills with 1,976 and she is in the top five in nine of the 10 Portland State career categories.

Lewis received numerous awards during her playing career including being named the Portland State Female Athlete of the Year in 1993 and 1994, the state of Oregon’s Female Athlete of the Year in 1993 and being named all-tournament in all 26 she competed in during college.

Since her playing days, Lewis has had a very successful career as a model for Nike. She has also been an assistant coach at PSU before, from 1994-96 and the 1999 season.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Hatcher receives the Viking Award

The Portland State women’s basketball coaching staff announced their 2000-01 season award winners at its annual post-season banquet last week.

Senior Hiedi Hatcher received the Viking award for the player who showed the most leadership both on and off the court. Hatcher led the team last year with an average 10.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game and was an honorable mention All-Big Sky selection. She also recorded 55 assists, 40 steals and 11 blocks on the season.

Hatcher ended her Portland State career as the fifth-leading rebounder (612) and 11th-leading scorer (988) in school history. In the Portland State career records, she is also tied for seventh in games started (82), tenth in field goal attempts (972) and eighth in double-figure scoring games (55). Hatcher was a three-time All-Big Sky honorable mention selection and was named to the Big Sky All-Academic team all four seasons.

Other award winners on the night were Krishelle Jessee (best playmaker), Hatcher and Sarah Hedgepeth (co-chairwomen of the boards), Hedgepeth (top freshman), Nikki Petticrew (most intense player), Alicia Russell (top newcomer) and Jane Gowans (academic).

-Beth Tarasawa