Groh, Porath, Glover honored by teammates

The UW-Green Bay women's basketball team announced its postseason awards for the 2007-08 season at its annual team banquet April 13 at the Holiday Inn in downtown Green Bay. The award winners were decided prior to the banquet by the Phoenix players, who voted for their teammates via e-mail. The players recognized senior guard Kayla Groh and junior guard Rachel Porath as the team's co-Most Valuable Players. The MVP award was the first for both Groh and Porath. UWGB Head Coach Matt Bollant said both players were deserving of the honor and that the shared MVP award was a good choice by the Phoenix players. "I think the co-MVP with Kayla and Rachel was perfect," Bollant said. "I would have voted the exact same way." Groh said she was pleasantly surprised that she was voted as the team's co-MVP, while Porath said she was honored to share the award with her teammate. Groh and Porath were two of the team's top scorers on the season, averaging a combined 27.2 points per game. Groh led the team in scoring, averaging 13.9 points per contest, while Porath finished the year tied for second with 13.3 per game. In a career-high-tying 24-point performance in a win over UIC on Feb. 24, Groh became the 24th player in UWGB history to break the 1,000-point barrier. Porath will likely surpass the 1,000-point mark next season, as she ended the year with 909 career points. The Horizon League chose Groh as a member of its second-team all-conference squad, while Porath earned first-team all-Horizon League honors. Groh and Porath have received numerous awards throughout their basketball careers, such as the Horizon League recognition, but Porath said the awards chosen by teammates are the ones that mean the most. "(The co-MVP award) definitely shows that your teammates see what you're doing for the team and all the hard work you do in practice," Porath said. "So I think it means more than any other award." Groh feels the same way. "Respect and honor from teammates is more important than any awards that I have received," Groh said. "I have made relationships with my teammates that will last a lifetime." Groh also received the Beth Gantz Award, which is given each year to a player who shows a high level of leadership and sportsmanship. The honor is given in honor of Gantz, who was a pre-law student and UWGB fan that passed away in 1982. The JoAnne Jennings Award, which is presented every year to the junior or senior with the highest cumulative grade point average, was also given to Groh. The award honors Jennings, a former member of the Academic Advising Office and founding member of the UWGB women's basketball Cage Club, who passed away at age 45 in 1995. Although Groh collected the majority of this year's awards, there were other players who were also honored at the banquet. Junior center Lavesa Glover was chosen by her teammates as the squad's most improved player. Glover finished the year tied with Porath for second on the team in scoring, averaging 13.3 points per game, nearly five points higher than her average from last season. Bollant said Glover was deserving of the most improved player award, as she started all 32 games for the Phoenix this season after coming off the bench in every game last year. Glover was a second-team all-Horizon League selection this season and was one of the conference's premier post players. Her season highlight came in an overtime win against Cleveland State on March 6, when the junior scored a career-high 34 points, good for fifth-best in school history. Freshman guard Chelsea Lyons received the Phoenix Award, which is a new award that Bollant chose himself. The award recognizes the player who demonstrates hard work and is a good teammate throughout the season. Bollant said he and the team enjoyed the banquet, and that the event was a good ending to the team's season. "They all strive to be great players," Bollant said. "So I think the recognition you get from your team is very important." The Phoenix posted a 26-6 record under the first-year coach, good for the fifth-highest win total in UWGB history.