Named All-American in Volleyball, Shakopee's Ashley Wittman Talks Future Goals

Ashley Wittman remembers she wasn’t too skilled when she first started playing volleyball in Shakopee.

“When I was 12-years-old, I wasn’t that good,” Wittman said. “When I turned 14 or 15 I found my ability to play.”

Has she ever.

Seven years later Wittman is an All-American volleyball player.

A University of Minnesota standout outside hitter, Wittman was named second-team All-American Dec. 14 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. It is the first honor of its kind for the sophomore, the eighth time in the past 10 years a Golden Gopher has received All-America status and the 20th honor in school history.

“I was really surprised,” Wittman said. “I was really happy because it means that other coaches and people are seeing your accomplishments."

Wittman, who is 6-feet tall, was also a named to the Mideast All-Region team and was an All-Big Ten selection. In just two seasons with the Maroon and Gold, Wittman has 998 career kills, trailing only Nicole Branagh after two seasons of play.

This year Wittman led the Gophers and ranked second in the Big Ten Conference in kills with 556 and points (607.5) in 1,391 total attempts.

In conference action alone, Wittman averaged 4.39 kills per set and 4.76 points per set, trailing only Big Ten Player of the Year Ariel Turner in both categories.

A six-rotation player, Wittman saw action in every set this season and also ranked third on the team in digs (335), blocks (59) and aces (18).

During non-conference tournament play, Wittman was a three-time All-Tournament selection, including the Most Valuable Player for the Northern Iowa Tournament and the Marquette Challenge. Following the Penn State and Ohio State weekend, Nov. 4-5, Wittman achieved her second weekly conference honors when she had 52 kills, including a career-high 31 against Penn State.

Prior to her sophomore season, she was also named to the Preseason All-Big Ten list.

A sports management major, Wittman is a 2010 graduate of . Her mother, Kristen Houle, and step-father live in Shakopee, while Wittman's father, Paul Wittman, lives in Lakeville.

That Wittman would be racking up the accolates for the Gophers wasn’t exactly unexpected.

She led Shakopee High School to a 32-0 record and their third consecutive Class 3A state championship as a senior and was a two-time Gatorade Minnesota Volleyball Player of the Year. In the Class 3A State final as a senior, she had 34 kills and 19 digs in a three-set sweep over Wayzata High School. She was also a two-time Star Tribune Player of the Year, a three-time first team all-state selection and tabbed as the number eight player in the nation coming out of high school by prepvolleyball.com.

And Wittman said she continues to learn about the game. 

“It’s more fast paced and you pick up on little things more," she said, referring to collegiate level play. “It’s being more of a leader and more physical on the court.”

Wittman’s goals for next season are to continue playing at an All-American level and to help lead the Gophers deeper in the NCAA volleyball towourney. Minnesota advanced to the Sweet Sixteen this season before being eliminated by Iowa State.

“We're losing some good players but we have a really good freshmen class coming in,” she said. “I’d like to see us move to the elite eight. I’d like to be No. 1 with kills in the Big 10.”