AVCA Announces Volleyball All-Region Teams and Coaches of the Year
Dec. 6, 2007
IRVING, Texas - Conference USA had 11 student-athletes named to the AVCA All-Midwest Region volleyball team. The league also saw one of its coaches be named Coach of the Year and one of its freshmen take Freshman of the Year accolades. Marshall's Kelly-Anne Billingy headlines the list as one of four players nationally to earn AVCA All Region honors all four seasons. The senior outside hitter became the first volleyball player in league history to be voted Player of the Year for three-consecutive seasons and the first under the new membership to earn three All-C-USA first team honors. She ranked second in the league and 12th in the NCAA in kills per game with 5.15 and registered a 5.27 per game clip in conference matches. Elizabeth Fleming added AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year and AVCA All-Midwest Region honors to her list of achievements this season at Marshall. The rookie setter was also voted the league's Freshman of the Year, as well as earned All-C-USA second team and All-C-USA Freshman team honors. Fleming concluded the season averaging a C-USA-best 13.35 assists per game and guided the Herd to their second C-USA regular season title in three years. Earning AVCA All-Midwest Region honorable mention honors for MU was senior Stephanie Cahill. Cahill accounted for 4.35 points per game and ranked eighth in the league for most service aces per game (0.45). She also led the Herd with 20 double-doubles. Tulane boasts the most honorees on the 2007 list with four, plus a coach of the year award. Green Wave head coach Liz Kritza was named the AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year after guiding her team to an overall record of 28-6 and a second-place finish (14-2) in C-USA, which also earned her co-C-USA Coach of the Year accolades. Kritza club wrapped up the year by winning 11 of its last 12 matches and remained perfect at home (12-0) for the first time in school history. It's just the fifth in program history the team has reached the 28-win plateau.
Kritza's squad was led by a pair of juniors in Sara Radosevic and Bridget Wells, plus sophomores Jenn Miller and Ksenija Vlaskovic. Each earned AVCA All-Midwest Region honors. Radosevic, a three-time AVCA All-Midwest Region selection, became Tulane's all-time kills per game leader and currently ranks second in career kills with 1,469. She was also named College Volleyball Update (cvu.com) National Player of the Week on Oct. 22, as well as earning C-USA Offensive Player of the Week honors twice. Radosevic produced 16 double-doubles on the season and accounted for 5.01 kills per game. Her service aces per game topped the conference (0.60) and ranked 15th nationally. Wells was named to the All-C-USA first team after averaging 3.67 kills per game, ranking 10th best in the league, and produced a .323 hitting percentage that was eighth best. Miller, a second team All-C-USA pick, led Tulane with 5.30 digs per game and had three 30-dig matches and 26 matches with 10-or-more. For her solid defensive efforts, she was named C-USA Libero of the Year and earned four Defensive Player of the Week honors. For the second consecutive year, Vlaskovic receives AVCA honorable mention merits. The sophomore outside hitter was named to the 2007 All-C-USA first team and was a 2006 All-C-USA second team honoree. Last year's C-USA and AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year averaged 4.41 kills per game. Repeating their 2006 AVCA All-Midwest Region accolades is Tulsa senior Julia Silva and Memphis middle blocker Shelby Burton. Silva is a three time all-region and a two-time C-USA Setter of the Year honoree. She guided the Golden Hurricane to its first NCAA Championship appearance and C-USA Tournament title in 2007. Silva was voted C-USA Setter of the Week a record six times and led the league with 10 triple-doubles and 31 double-doubles. She owns the top two totals for assists in a single-season at TU and became the first setter in program history to surpass the 4,000 career assist mark (4,206). Burton led Memphis, C-USA and ranked 18th nationally with a .383 attack percentage. She also finished 59th in the country with 1.34 blocks per game. The two-time all-region selection recorded 449 kills (3.51 kpg) and served a team-high 39 aces. Defensively, she paced Memphis with 171 blocks. For her performance during the season, Burton was named an All-C-USA first team performer for the second-straight year. Earning their first AVCA All-Midwest Region honors is Natalie Bogan of Rice and Houston's Justine Farmer. Bogan led the Owls in kills (336), blocks (112) and hitting percentage (.320). Her blocks per game (1.08) ranked seventh best in the league, while her hitting efficiency was ninth best. Farmer led the NCAA during regular season with more than five kills per game (5.58). She finished the season leading the Cougars in kills (606) and was second in digs (389). The junior sports a school record 1,666 career kills and had 19 double-double this season. Farmer was named to the 2007 All-C-USA first team for the second-straight season.
C-USA's AVCA ALL-MIDWEST REGION SELECTIONS Region Coach of the Year: Liz Kritza, Tulane * denotes total number of years selected to AVCA All-Region teams |
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