2009 AVP Awards -Phil Dalhausser "The Thin Beast" was the Star of the Banquet

Phil and Todd in Marseille (source photo: Karim Levy)

Priscilla Lima (source photo: Mark Rigney)

Hier soir à Manhattan Beach ont été décernés les AVP Awards 2009, résultat des votes des 32 meilleurs de chaque genre.

Rookie of the Year

Homme: Jonathan Acosta - originaire de Puerto Rico et vivant à Newport Beach.

Femme: Raquel Caulkins - enregistre sa meilleure performance cette année en finissant 9ème à Manhattan Beach - joueuse née au Brésil.

Most Improved Player

Homme: John Mayer - gagne son premier titre à San Diego.

Femme: Priscilla Lima and Lisa Rutledge. 2 joueuses qui ont réalisées leur meilleur saison. Priscilla Lima est brésilienne et associée à une autre brésilienne Tatiana Minello a terminé 6ème au classement de l'AVP.

Best Blocker

Homme: Phil Dalhausser. Pour la 2ème année consécutive voilà Phil Dalhausser "Roi de la Chausse" avec ses 399 blocks avec lesquels il dommine tous les joueurs de l'AVP.

Femme: Lisa Rutledge - domine les filets féminins avec ses 302 blocks réussis.

Best Defender

Homme: John Hyden. Avec ses 1007 plongeons réussis, John devient le plus grand "Digger".

Femme: Brooke Hanson. Elle atteind les 1194 digs réussis et avec sa partenaire Lisa Ruttledge elle forme la meilleure équipe défensive du circuit américain.

Best Offensive Player

Homme: Phil Dalhausser. 200 aces ce qu'il fait de lui l'homme le plus dangereux du circuit.

Femme: Nicole Branagh. Ses 145 aces l'ont évidemment aidé à devenir l'une des plus grandes joeuses américaines.

Most Valuable Player

Homme: Phil Dalhausser. Pour la 3ème année de suite il devient le meilleur joueur de l'AVP voir du monde.

Femme: Nicole Branagh. Déjà nommé Meilleur joueuse offensive voilà celle qui fut 2 fois Most Improved Player désignée par ses pairs Meilleur joueuse AVP 2009.

Team of the Year

Homme: Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers. Avec leurs 8 titres cette année, ils sont nommés meilleure équipe pour la 3ème fois.

Femmes: Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs. Branagh et Youngs ont gagné plusieurs titres ensemble dont Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, et Chicago.

Based on votes cast by each gender's top 32 players, the rest of the winners were as follows:

Rookie of the Year

Male: Jonathan Acosta. Puerto Rico native and Newport Beach resident Acosta ranked 34th among all male players in 2009.

Female: Raquel Caulkins. Caulkins finished in the top 17 in each of her 11 AVP tournaments this season, taking ninth at Manhattan Beach and six 13-place showings.

Most Improved Player

Male: John Mayer. Mayer won his first career title in San Diego and finished in the top five 12 times after cracking the top five only six times prior to 2009.

Female: Priscilla Lima and Lisa Rutledge. A mid-season partner change worked wonders for Lima, who advanced to the first four semifinals of her career after teaming up with Tatiana Minello. The Brazilian has come a long way since she started playing volleyball at age 15.

Rutledge, whose previous high seed was 12th, didn't disappoint after beginning the season seeded seventh. She made her first final in San Diego in front of a home crowd and took third place five times in 14 top-nine finishes.

Best Blocker

Male: Phil Dalhausser. For the second straight year, Dalhausser takes home this award for his presence at the net. His 399 blocks led all players in the AVP.

Female: Lisa Rutledge. Rutledge dominated at the net by blocking 302 balls. Only Jennifer Fopma (203) came within 100 blocks of Rutledge.

Best Defender

Male: John Hyden. No other man came within 100 of Hyden's 1,007 digs. With four titles in 2009, Hyden won more than one event for the first time in his career.

Female: Brooke Hanson. Hanson led all women with 1,194 digs as she combined with Rutledge to form the best defensive duo on the Tour.

Best Offensive Player

Male: Phil Dalhausser. Dalhausser's 200 aces made the Thin Beast equally as dangerous with his serve as with his block. His .

Female: Nicole Branagh. Branagh's 145 aces helped her to a career year that included nine wins.

Most Valuable Player

Male: Phil Dalhausser. If winning Best Blocker and Best Offensive Player wasn't enough, being named Most Valuable Player for the third straight year cemented Dalhausser's status as the best player in the AVP, if not the world.

Female: Nicole Branagh. Just like the men's side, Best Offensive Player proved a reliable indicator for women's MVP. It will be difficult for Branagh, already a two-time Most Improved Player, to improve much upon this banner year.

Team of the Year

Men: Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers. For the third straight year, Dalhausser and Rogers are the top men's team on the Tour. A brief midseason drought followed a torrid start to the season, but Dalhausser and Rogers came on strong and ended up with eight titles as a team.

Women: Nicole Branagh and Elaine Youngs. In a career season for both women, Branagh and Youngs won nine events and advanced to the championship match in all 12 of their regular-season team tournaments. Branagh and Youngs played their best on the biggest stages by sweeping three of the AVP's biggest tournaments: Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, and Chicago.