Valparaiso University’s Launa Hochstetler (Berlin, Ohio/Hiland H.S.) has been named to the Horizon League’s First Team while Lauren Kenney (Mooresville, Ind./Mooresville H.S.) garnered All-Newcomer Team honors as the conference announced the year end award winners on Sunday evening.

Hochstetler leads the Horizon League in assists averaging 4.7 assists per game while ranking 10th in the league and second on the Crusader squad scoring 11.5 points per night.  She also is second in the conference shooting 84.5% from the free throw line while connecting on 36.7% from three-point range, ninth best in the conference.  The senior point guard also leads Valpo with 45 steals on the year and is second in the league averaging 34.2 minutes per contest. 

Kenney earned All-Newcomer Team accolades after averaging 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.  The junior college transfer ranks 14th in the conference in scoring and eighth in rebounding.  Despite missing six games with an ankle injury, Kenney shot 54.2% from the floor this season, a percentage that ranks fifth in the Horizon League. 

Hochstetler is Valpo’s first First Team All-Horizon League selection since the Crusaders joined the conference last season, while Kenney marks the first player in school history to be recognized on league’s All-Newcomer Team.

Valparaiso (16-13, 10-8) will open the 2009 Speedway Horizon League Championships on Wednesday evening, hosting a quarterfinal contest.  The Crusaders, the fourth seed, will face fifth-seeded Wright StateAthletics-Recreation Center with tip-off slated for 7:05 p.m. at the