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C-USA Announces All-Conference and Individual Award Winners
Nov. 23, 2011
IRVING, Texas - Conference USA has announced its 2011 all-conference first and second teams and all-freshman squad as well as specialty award winners for volleyball as selected by the league's 12 head coaches. Tulsa (27-5, 18-1 C-USA) won the Conference USA regular-season title for the second consecutive year and received a bid to the upcoming NCAA Championship. The Golden Hurricane is led by C-USA Co-Coach of the Year Steven McRoberts, Player of the Year Tyler Henderson and Libero of the Year Jessica Adams, as well as a league-best four all-conference selections. In his first season at the helm, McRoberts guided Tulsa to its fourth conference title and the program's third NCAA berth.
Henderson and Adams, two juniors both from Oklahoma City, were also selected to the All-C-USA first team along with teammate Diana Silva. Sophomore Kellie Culbertson earned All-C-USA second team accolades. Henderson ranked among the NCAA elite in kills, points and hitting efficiency for the past two seasons. The 5-10 outside hitter leads the league with averages of 4.81 kills and 5.08 points per set. She also ranks second with a .352 (529K-139E-1107TA) hitting percentage. She's one of two players in the conference to land 500-or-more kills and just one of three with more than 1,000 attempts on the season. Adams, a 2010 All-C-USA second team honoree, averages 4.88 digs per set and has been named C-USA's Defensive Player of the Week twice this season and nine times for her career. Silva accounts for 3.30 kills per set which ranks seventh best in the conference. She also ranks 14th in the league in digs per set with an average of 3.40 along with a .210 attack percentage and 22 service aces. She was an All-Conference USA second team selection last season and just recently named to the 2011 C-USA All-Academic Team. Southern Miss senior Kelsea Seymour closes out her collegiate career earning C-USA Setter of the Year honors. The Long Beach, Calif., native, has averaged 11.32 assists per set and is a three-time All-C-USA first team selection for the Golden Eagles. Senior teammates Lisa Knecht and Ashley Mell appear on the all-conference second team. Mell, a two-time All-C-USA first team pick, ranks fourth in the league with 3.58 kills per set. Knecht earns her first all-conference honor and averages the second-most digs per set in the league with 4.94. Seymour and Knecht were also voted to the C-USA All-Academic Team. Taking C-USA Freshman of the Year honors was UCF's Delaina Sarden. The rookie ranks 11th in the league in blocks per set (0.99) and hitting efficiency with a .282. Overall, Sarden contributes 2.25 kills and 2.87 points per set for the Knights. She was also named to the all-freshman team, while teammate Angelica Crump was voted to the All-C-USA first team and Evija Vilde and Rachel Vukson earned second team accolades. Crump, a sophomore, is third in the league in kills per set with a 4.29 average, followed by Vilde who lands 3.31 kps for sixth best in the conference. Early in the season, Vukson topped the NCAA assists per set chart and currently ranks fifth with a distribution of 11.93. Currently in a two-way tie for second place in the conference standings are UAB and Rice. The Blazers are 23-8 overall and 13-6 in C-USA play. A year ago, UAB was 13-19 overall and for that 10-win improvement head coach Kerry Messersmith was voted C-USA Co-Coach of the Year. Junior Sam Serley and senior Heather Thomas have been instrumental in this progress as the two earned all-conference honors. Serley, who earned second team honors a year ago, was voted to the first team after averaging 1.31 blocks per set and ranking third in the league in hitting percentage (.351) and blocks (149). Thomas earns her first all-conference award as she appears on the second team. The senior libero is one of two active players that rank among the league's all-time greats in digs. She currently boasts a school-record 2,101 digs, a figure that also appears fourth best in C-USA. All-C-USA first team selection Nancy Cole has guided Rice to an overall record of 18-12 and 13-6 in C-USA. This is Cole's second all-conference honor as the junior appeared on the second team in 2010. The 6-3 middle blocker ranks among the top 10 in the league in hitting percentage (.329), kills (3.24) and blocks (1.03). Earning second team merits for the Owls was sophomore Megan Murphy and all-freshman team honors went to Jillian Humphrey. UTEP sports the only freshman on the All-C-USA first team in Xitlali Herrera. The 6-0 middle blocker becomes the first all-conference honoree for the Miners since then-senior Kari Stacy appeared on the 2005 list. Sophomore Jeane Horton earned second team accolades, giving UTEP its first pair of all-conference selections since joining the league in 2005. Houston, Memphis and SMU also placed a student-athlete on the all-conference first team. Redshirt senior Lucy Charuk collects her third first-team honor for the Cougars. She was an All-C-USA first team selection a year ago and in 2008 but missed the 2009 campaign with an injury. Charuk ranks 15th in the NCAA in hitting percentage (.390) and 17th in blocks per set (1.38). Two-time All-C-USA and All-Academic pick Altrese Hawkins of Memphis has lead the Tigers with 4.51 kills per set and a .254 hitting efficiency. Moving up from second team a year ago is SMU's Courtney Manning. She accounts for a league-best 1.76 blocks per set, a figure that ranks 11th in the nation. Due to a tie for the final spot, the All-C-USA second team is 14 members instead of 11. The following is a list of all-conference honorees and specialty award winners for the 2011 C-USA volleyball season. 2011 CONFERENCE USA VOLLEYBALL POSTSEASON AWARD WINNERS ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM ALL FRESHMAN TEAM PLAYER OF THE YEAR SETTER OF THE YEAR LIBERO OF THE YEAR FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR |
Who is your pick to win the 2013 C-USA Baseball Championship, May 22-26, at Rice's Reckling Park in Houston?
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