2007 Volleyball All-Conference Teams And Award Winners Announced

ROCK HILL, S.C. - Regular-season champion Wingate University and conference runner-up Tusculum College were the big winners as the South Atlantic Conference announced its post-season volleyball awards, the league announced today.

Tusculum senior outside hitter Vivian Lacy, who averaged 4.72 kills per game and had the two highest single-match kill totals of the season, was named Player of the Year.

Wingate freshman Stormi Gale, who was among the league leaders in hitting percentage, kills and blocks, was named the Freshman of the Year.

Wingate coach Shelton Collier, who guided the Bulldogs to an undefeated conference record and the conference championship, was named Coach of the Year.

Vivian Lacy

Stormi Gale

Shelton Collier

Tusculum libero Alexis Rowles received the SAC Scholar Athlete Award for volleyball.

Wingate, Tusculum and Catawba led the way with four All-Conference selections each.

Joining Gale on the All-Conference team from Wingate are freshman middle blocker Rebecca Bloemer and senior setter Melissa DeLuca on the first team. DeLuca led the conference in assists. Junior outside hitter Kathryn Reddick was named to the second team.

Lacy was a first-team selection for Tusculum. Junior middle blocker Kelsey Hayden, freshman outside hitter Katie Luebke and senior setter Mariana Rezende were selected to the second team.

Catawba junior middle blocker Melissa Powers was also selected to the All-Conference first team. Powers led the conference in hitting percentage and kills per game. Libero Nikki Bozick, setter Andi Henderson and junior outside hitter Melissa Griffith were selected to the second team.

Lenoir-Rhyne had a pair of first-team All-Conference selections in junior outside hitter Katie Novacek and senior libero Catherine Fulton. Fulton led the conference in digs.

Newberry junior outside hitter Priscilla Sales was named to the All-Conference first team.

Lincoln Memorial sophomore outside hitter Amanda Horenkamp was a second team selection and rounds out the All-Conference team.

Joining Gale on the All-Freshman team are Bloemer and Heather Myklebust from Wingate, Luebke from Tusculum, Caroline Albertelli from Lenoir-Rhyne and Nikki James from Carson-Newman. James led the conference in blocks per game.

Rowles ranks fourth in the conference in digs per game and was a second-team All-Conference selection in 2006. She is Tusculum's career leader in digs and played a big part in Tusculum's second place finish in the conference standings.

In the classroom, Rowles has a 3.97 GPA as an Elementary Education major. She is a trustee scholarship recipient and was named Tusculum's Academic Freshman of the Year in 2005. She is a member of Alpha Chi national honor society.

On campus and in the community, she has traveled to India with other college professors and students to deliver school supplies and books to youth in India. She took part in a church mission trip to Chicago to work a vacation Bible School in an inner city church. She has participated in Salkehatchie Summer Service, which helps rebuild homes for disadvanted people. She also serves as a tutor on campus and has participated in campus projects, including cleaning up a local graveyard and raising money for the Susan G. Kormen Breast Cancer Fund.

The All-Conference Team is selected by the league's head coaches.

The Food Lion South Atlantic Conference volleyball tournament begins Friday morning at Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tenn. Semifinals are schedule for 11 a.m. on Saturday, with the championship match at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

2007 SOUTH ATLANTIC CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS AND AWARD RECIPIENTS

ALL-SAC FIRST TEAM
Melissa Powers, Catawba

Tusculum College's Alexis Rowles receives the 2007 SAC Volleyball Scholar Athlete Award from Commissioner Doug Echols.

Katie Novacek, Lenoir-Rhyne
Catherine Fulton, Lenoir-Rhyne (Libero)
Priscila Sales, Newberry
Vivian Lacy, Tusculum
Rebecca Bloemer, Wingate
Melissa DeLuca, Wingate
Stormi Gale, Wingate

ALL-SAC SECOND TEAM
Nikki Bozick, Catawba (Libero)
Andi Henderson, Catawba
Melissa Griffith, Catawba
Amanda Horenkamp, Lincoln Memorial
Kelsey Hayden, Tusculum
Katie Luebke, Tusculum
Mariana Rezende, Tusculum
Kathryn Reddick, Wingate

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Nikki James, Carson-Newman
Caroline Albertelli, Lenoir-Rhyne
Katie Luebke, Tusculum
Rebecca Bloemer, Wingate
Stormi Gale, Wingate
Heather Myklebust, Wingate

COACH OF THE YEAR: Shelton Collier, Wingate
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Stormi Gale, Wingate
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Vivian Lacy, Tusculum
SAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Alexis Rowles, Tusculum

STATISTICAL CHAMPIONS
(through games of November 4)
Hitting Percentage - Melissa Powers, Catawba, .355
Kills Per Game - Melissa Powers, Catawba, 5.39
Assists Per Game - Melissa DeLuca, Wingate, 13.06
Blocks Per Game - Nikki James, Carson-Newman, 1.52
Service Aces Per Game - Lorena Maia, Newberry, 0.56
Digs Per Game - Catherine Fulton, Lenoir-Rhyne, 5.76
Team Hitting Percentage - Wingate, .261
Team Assists Per Game - Wingate, 14.51
Team Kills Per Game - Wingate, 15.80
Team Winning Percentage - Wingate, .968
Opponent Hitting Percentage - Wingate, .136
Team Blocks Per Game - Carson-Newman, 3.15
Team Service Aces Per Game - Wingate, 2.93
Digs Per Game - Catawba, 19.91

SENIOR AWARDS
Kelli Sorensen, Carson-Newman
Kelsey Fleck, Carson-Newman
Mary Knapp, Carson-Newman
Jessica Cleary, Catawba
Andi Henderson, Catawba
Catherine Fulton, Lenoir-Rhyne
Lauren McLelland, Lenoir-Rhyne
Natalie Krause, Lenoir-Rhyne
Amanda Baker, Lincoln Memorial
Karlee Wyrick, Lincoln Memorial
Tiffany Oreka, Mars Hill
Christy Stegall, Newberry
Cara Coleman, Newberry
Laurie Barman, Newberry
Vivian Lacy, Tusculum
Mariana Rezende, Tusculum
Alexis Rowles, Tusculum
Melissa DeLuca, Wingate
Amanda Siegrist, Wingate
Rachelle Rostas, Wingate