Dec. 17, 2003

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane volleyball standout Deva Fowler scribed her named in the record book once again when she received honorable mention All-America honors as announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Wednesday.

A junior middle blocker from San Diego, Calif., Fowler is the first player in Tulane volleyball history to earn the honor. It marks the third postseason award she has earned in 2003 after being named first-team All-Conference USA and claiming AVCA All-Midwest Region honors.

"I'm extremely excited for Deva," head coach Betsy Becker said. "She has worked extremely hard throughout her career here, and this is both a tremendous and a very well-deserved honor for her. It recognizes her as one of the best players in the county, but she knows that none of this would be possible without the help of her teammates."

Fowler led Tulane and Conference USA while ranking 13th in the NCAA with 1.49 blocks per game, and paced the team in kills (444), kills per game (3.83), service aces (39), solo blocks (27), block assists (146) and total blocks (173). She tallied double-digit kill totals in 25 of Tulane's 32 matches, including four 20-plus kill outings. Fowler also blocked at least five opponent attacks on 18 occasions, including 11-block matches against Marquette (10/17) and at Cincinnati (10/26).

She hit .400 or better 10 times, including a .582 mark (16 kills, 2 errors, 24 swings) vs. UMKC on Sept. 20 and a .714 clip (11-1-14) vs. Southern on Oct. 28. Fowler was named C-USA Player of the Week on Oct. 20 after averaging 5.09 kills, 1.45 digs, 2.00 blocks and 6.41 points per game in a 3-0 week for the Green Wave.

Fowler earned all-tournament honors at all four tourneys Tulane participated in - Green Wave/Radisson Invitational, NOKIA Sugar Bowl Classic, Denver Pioneer Classic and Kathy Trosclair Memorial - and was named MVP of the Trosclair tournament

Fowler is one of seven C-USA student-athletes named to the AVCA All-America squad as Cincinnati's Julie DuPont was named to the third team while Laura Lauder of Cincinnati, Sonja Percan, Bing Sun and Lena Ustymenko of Louisville, and USF's Shameka Mitchell joined Fowler on the honorable mention squad.