Back to the Illinois Fighting Illini Newsfeed

Holzman named Gatorade National Player of the Year

NEW ORLEANS — Ellie Holzman admits she should have known something big was coming. The film crew at her house Wednesday morning should have been a clue. Her aunt in town from New Jersey — for what her parents told her was a conference — another.

But it was still a surprise when Holzman’s Mount Carmel Academy teammates walked into lunch carrying the Gatorade National Volleyball Player of the Year award with her family and friends trailing behind.

“I started crying immediately,” Holzman told The News-Gazette early Wednesday afternoon. “It was not something I was expecting by any means.