LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas — Xavier University of Louisiana's Franziska Pirkl is the 2015 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Setter of the Year.
Pirkl, a senior from Munich, Germany, and a graduate of Theodolinden Gymnasium, leads the GCAC this season with 8.9 assists per set, and her 170 digs are the most by a GCAC setter this season. Pirkl's 3,169 career assists are an XU record. On Tuesday, Pirkl was named first-team All-GCAC for the fourth consecutive year.
"I'm so proud and impressed with the strides Fran has made since she joined our program," XU coach Hannah Lawing said. "She used to be very unsure about running her offense and lose confidence in herself pretty quickly. Now, she is a decisive setter who is hungry to feed her hitters a ball they can put away. Not only has her setting improved, but her defense has had the most vast progression. We are so fortunate to have added her to our program and have her be our court captain for the past two years. Her shoes will be extremely difficult ones to fill."
Pirkl also excels in the classroom. The mass communications major has a cumulative GPA of 3.69.
Pirkl's award was announced Thursday at a banquet prior to the GCAC Tournament, which will begin Friday morning at Philander Smith's Mims Gym. There were six additional "of-the-year" awards presented, but Xavier — the tournament's No. 1 seed and co-champion of the regular season with SUNO — received none of them. SUNO collected five, and fourth-place Philander Smith received one. Awards were based on voting by the GCAC's seven head coaches. SUNO senior Ana Privrat won Player of the Year and Defender of the Year.
Xavier (17-7) has a first-round bye in the tournament will play third-seeded Dillard or sixth-seeded Talladega in the semifinals at 10 a.m. Saturday. The championship match is scheduled for 3 p.m. that day.
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
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