Sarah Wilhite Named AVCA Player of the Year

Sarah Wilhite took home one final award to cap off her career at Minnesota, earning AVCA Player of the Year. Wilhite transformed herself from just a hitter to a six rotation player and leader of this year’s Gopher squad. There was a glaring hole in the Gopher lineup after the departure of All-American Daly Santana. Coach McCutcheon tapped Wilhite to fill the role and she rose to the occasion this season leading the Gophers back to the Final Four. Wilhite is the first Gopher to earn the honor.

Through the course of the season Wilhite tallied a team best 537 kills, 13th best in the country, 4.26 kills per set, 30th in the country. She was also 13th best in points scored and 30th in points per set, 599.5 and 4.76 per set. Wilhite hit .288 during the season. She was second best on the team with 29 service aces and 327 digs, 2.6 digs per set. She amassed 13 double-doubles throughout the season.

During the season Wilhite was named the B1G Player of the Week four times and AVCA National Player of the week once. In addition to being the AVCA Player of the Year she also received POY accolades from the Big Ten and ESPNW and was a First Team All-American.

Wilhite finishes her Gopher career with 1,182 kills, 72 aces, 799 digs and 215 blocks.