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C-USA Earns 14 AVCA All-Midwest Region Honors; Plus Coach of the Year
VB AVCA Honors

	Steven McRoberts, Tulsa head coach

Dec. 9, 2011

IRVING, Texas - Fourteen of the 20 American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Midwest Region selections are Conference USA student-athletes. Tulsa leads the list with three honorees. In addition, the league also was awarded with the Midwest Region Coach of the Year in TU's STEVEN MCROBERTS.

Juniors JESSICA ADAMS, TYLER HENDERSON and DIANA SILVA are the Golden Hurricane all-region honorees. McRoberts was named regional AVCA Coach of the Year for the first time, while Henderson made her third appearance on the AVCA All-Midwest Region team. Adams was selected to the all-region team for the second time, and Silva appeared on the all-region squad for the first time.

McRoberts led TU to a 28-7 record and its second straight Conference USA Championship with an 18-2 league mark. The Hurricane advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, with a 3-1 opening-round win over Oklahoma.

Adams, a native of Oklahoma City, averaged 4.85 digs per set and 0.23 service aces per set. The Conference USA Libero of the Year ranks 63rd in the nation in digs per set. She recorded double-digit digs in 33 matches, and averaged 5.00 dig/s in 25 matches and 4.00 dig/s 22 times.

Henderson, also from Oklahoma City, ranks sixth in the NCAA in kills per set (4.86) and 13th in the NCAA in points per set (5.11). She also ranks 38th in the nation in hitting percentage (.353) and led Conference USA in kills per set. She averaged at least 4.00 kills per set in 26 matches, and 5.00 kills per set in 16 matches. Silva, a native of Niteroi, Brazil, ranks second on the team in kills and digs per set. She tallied 13 double-doubles this year and ranks seventh in C-USA in kills per set (3.08) and 11th in digs per (3.48). She tallied double-digit kills in 19 matches and averaged at least 3.00 kills per set 19 times, and 4.00 kills per set 10 times.

Rice followed with two all-region picks in junior NANCY COLE and redshirt sophomore MEGAN MURPHY. Cole, a native from Pasadena, Texas, led Rice in kills with 378 (3.23 kills per set) and she was tops on the team with 26 matches in double-digit kills and second on team with 121 blocks (1.03 blocks per set). Cole was fourth in Conference USA in hitting percentage (.335) and ranked seventh in kills. A product of Plano, Texas, Murphy led the Owls in assists with 1,274 (10.89 assists per set) and in double-doubles with 14. Murphy's assist average ranked fourth in C-USA. Under her direction the Owls posted a .242 hitting percentage that ranked second in C-USA. This is Cole's second and All-Midwest Region accolade and the first for Murphy.

Houston senior LUCY CHARUK earned her third AVCA all-region selection. The Tswwassen, British Columbia, native led the Cougars with 365 kills and a .390 hitting percentage. She also has a team-high 159 blocks, averaging 1.38 per set. The three-time All-C USA first team honoree found herself ranked among the conference leaders in multiple categories. She led the league in hitting percentage, ranked second in blocks and fifth in points. She was 14th in the NCAA in blocks per set and 16th in hitting percentage. She leaves Houston as the school career leader in hitting percentage, second in blocks and block assists, sixth in solo blocks and eighth in blocks per set.

Memphis junior ALTRESE HAWKINS collects her third postseason AVCA regional honor to go along with her All-C-USA first team and COBRA Magazine All-Southeast accolades. Hawkins led Memphis in kills (532), kills per set (4.40) and hitting percentage (.333). A native of Schaumburg, Ill., she also ranked second in C-USA in kills per set and points per set (4.76).

Senior KELSEA SEYMOUR earns her second-straight all-region honor for Southern Miss. She closed out her collegiate career earning Conference USA Setter of the Year honors. The Long Beach, Calif., native averaged 11.32 assists per set and was a three-time All-C-USA first team selection for the Golden Eagles. She played and started all 32 matches while tallying 1,324 assists, 101 kills, 370 digs, 13 aces and 36 total blocks during the 2011 season.

UAB had two honored in junior SAM SERLEY and senior HEATHER THOMAS. Serley was named to the 14-member All-Midwest Region squad, while Thomas was one of six players named honorable mention for the region. Two-time all-region selection, Serley was a key factor in the front line of the Blazers top-notch defense. The Nashville, Tenn. native earned All-C-USA first team honors by finishing third in the league in overall hitting percentage (.351) and blocks per set (1.31). Thomas produced a stellar final season for UAB guiding the back row as the team's libero. The Madison, Ala. native led C-USA in total digs (631) and digs per set (5.35). She broke the school record for career digs, with 2,131, ranking fourth in C-USA history. She was named All-C-USA second team and earned the league's top weekly defensive honor three times in 2011.

Sophomore ANGELICA CRUMP and senior RACHEL VUKSON were the AVCA's picks from UCF. For Crump, a native of Atlanta, Ga., landed on the all-region first team while Vukson earned all-region honorable mention, becoming the program's seventh and eighth recipients all-time of this award. Crump tallied 499 kills on the year for a .265 hitting percentage and accumulated 529.5 points. She was named to the All-C-USA first team and ranked third in the league in kills per set (4.34) as well as 21st in the nation in the category.

From Oakville, Ontario, Vukson capped off her two-year career with the Knights by averaging 11.97 assists per set to lead C-USA and rank her fifth overall in the nation. She dished out 1,377 assists and averaged 2.59 digs per set. Vukson also recorded 15 double-doubles.

Rounding out C-USA All-Region honorees are SMU's COURTNEY MANNING and UTEP's XITLALI HERRERA. The duo appears on the honorable mention list.

After leading Conference USA and ranking 10th in the NCAA with 1.44 blocks per set Manning earns her first all-region merit. The Mesquite, Texas, native broke her own single-season school record with 184 blocks this season. That figure ranks third all-time in league history and is the most since Julie Tretten set the conference record with 210 in 1996. The 6-0 middle blocker was third on the team with 274 kills, averaging 2.14 per set with a team-high .307 attack percentage. Herrera collected her first All-C-USA first team honor this season after ranking sixth in hitting percentage (.321), sixth in blocks (132) and 10th in kills (384). The Mexican native registered 11 double-doubles started in 32 matches this season.

2011 AVCA All-Midwest Region Team
Jessica Adams, Tulsa (L, Jr.)
***Lucy Charuk, Houston (MB, Sr.)
Nancy Cole, Rice (MB, Jr.)
Angelica Crump, UCF (OH, So.)
Kasey Elswick, UT-Martin (L, Jr.)
**Altrese Hawkins, Memphis (OH, Jr.)
***Tyler Henderson, Tulsa (OH, Jr.)
Megan Murphy, Rice (S, So.)
Rachel Neuberger, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (MB, So.)
**Taylor Root, Valparaiso (L, Jr.)
**Sam Serley, UAB (MB. Jr.)
**Kelsea Seymour, Southern Mississippi (S, Sr.)
**Kerri Schuh, Wisconsin-Milwaukee (RS, Sr.)
Diana Silva, Tulsa (OH, Jr.)

Honorable Mention: Caitlin Clark (Morehead St., S/H, Jr.), Xitlali Herrera (UTEP, MB, So.), Courtney Manning (SMU, MB, Jr.), Jenny Pokorny (Valparaiso, S, Sr.), Heather Thomas (UAB, L, Sr.), Rachel Vukson (UCF, S, Sr.)

* Repeat selections