Volleyball All-Conference USA Awards Announced
Nov. 14, 2007
IRVING, Texas - Conference USA announced its 2007 all-conference first and second teams and postseason award winners for volleyball today, as selected by the conference's head coaches. The awards are announced one day before the start of the 13th Annual C-USA Volleyball Championship, which is scheduled for Thursday through Sunday, Nov. 15-18, at the Cam Henderson Center in Huntington W.Va., on the campus of Marshall University. 2007 All-C-USA Volleyball Team Marshall earned the regular season title with a 22-8 record and a 15-1 mark in conference play. The regular season title is the second in the last three years for the Herd. For the third consecutive year, senior outside hitter Kelly-Anne Billingy was named C-USA Player of the Year. Billingy becomes 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 for earn three All-C-USA first team honors. She ranks second in the league and 11th in the NCAA in kills per game at 5.06 overall and is registering a 5.27 per game clip in conference matches. Also earning individual honors for the Thundering Herd is freshman setter Elizabeth Fleming. An overwhelming favorite, Fleming was voted the league's Freshman of the Year after averaging a C-USA-best 13.19 assists per game. The 5-10 setter was also named to the All-C-USA second-team after dishing out the second-most assist for a single match when she distributed 72 at East Carolina on Oct. 21. That total tops the individual match high for a C-USA match. Fleming was named C-USA Setter of the Week four times this year. With an average of 5.29 digs per game and four C-USA Defensive Player of the Week honors, Tulane's Jenn Miller earned Libero of the Year accolades. The sophomore has assisted the Green Wave to the No. 2 seed in the upcoming C-USA Championship and to an overall record of 26-5. The All-C-USA second teamer has had three 30-dig matches and 26 matches with 10-or-more digs this season.
Repeating an honor her sister won a year ago, Lilly Domingos of UAB is this year's C-USA Newcomer of the Year. The 6-3 junior middle blocker is averaging 1.14 blocks and 1.09 digs per game, while hitting the conference's fourth-best clip of .344 for league matches. Repeating her Setter of the Year honors is Tulsa's Julia Silva. Silva has produced nine triple-doubles and 28 double-doubles this season as well as average 10.75 assists, 3.28 digs and 0.83 blocks per game. The Brazilian has guided the Golden Hurricane to a first-round bye in this week's tournament with a league record of 11-5 and overall mark of 24-8. Silva also was recognized as a first team All-C-USA pick. For the first time in league history, co-Coach of the Year will be awarded. This year's award goes to Marshall's Mitch Jacobs and Tulane's Liz Kritza. Jacobs, who was the 2005 C-USA Coach of the Year, has guided Marshall to its second C-USA regular season crown and the No. 1 seed in this year's tournament. He also has coached four players to All-C-USA honors, including this year's Player (Billingy) and Setter (Fleming) of the Year award winners. Marshall owns an overall record of 22-8 and league-best 15-1 mark. Kritza earns her first C-USA Coach of the Year honor after guiding the Green Wave to a No. 2 seed in this week's C-USA Championship. Kritza's club produced an overall record of 26-5 and went 14-2 in league play. Tulane's 26 victories is the third most in the NCAA this season. Five Tulane players were named to the All-C-USA teams, followed by Marshall's four and Memphis and UAB with three each. Tulsa had two first teamers, while Rice placed two on the second team. East Carolina, Houston and SMU each had one all-conference honoree. 2007 C-USA VOLLEYBALL AWARDS ALL-CONFERENCE FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE SECOND TEAM ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR LIBERO OF THE YEAR SETTER OF THE YEAR PLAYER OF THE YEAR CO-COACH OF THE YEAR |
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