Eight SAC Volleyball Players Named To Daktronics All-Southeast Region Team

WINGATE, N.C. -- Catawba College middle hitter Melissa Powers (Bennett, N.C.) is the 2008 Daktronics, Inc. Southeast Region Player of the Year, officials announced today. In addition, Powers is one of seven student-athletes named to the Daktronics, Inc. All-Southeast Region team by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

Regional semi-finalists Catawba, Armstrong Atlantic State University and Wingate University have two student-athletes each on the first team. Newberry College placed one student-athlete on the first team. The 2008 NCAA Division II Daktronics, Inc. Volleyball All-Southeast Region team was selected by a vote from the region's sports information directors. The seven first team members advance to the All-American ballot.

The South Atlantic Conference Player of the Year, Powers led Catawba this season in kills, blocks and aces. She is among the top 10 in the NCAA in kills per set at 4.30. In addition, Powers hit at a 30 percent clip.

Melissa Powers	Melissa Griffith
Stormi Gale	Maggie Malone
Priscila Sales	Liz Willis
Amanda Horenkamp	Carly Mozgai

Powers ranked second in the SAC at 0.95 blocks per set and was eighth in aces at 0.36. In the season opener, Powers set a school record for kills in a match with 37. A second-time All-South pick last season, she also posted Catawba marks for kills in a season and career.

Senior teammate Melissa Griffith (Williamsburg, Va.) joins Powers on the first team as an outside hitter. Griffith earned All-Southeast Region tournament honors as she helped Catawba to the regional final. She posted a career-high 30 kills in the opener of the tournament.

A four-time All-South Atlantic Conference performer, Griffith averaged 3.3 kills and 3.2 digs per set this season. She finished second on Catawba's all-time kill list and third in career digs.

NCAA Division II Southeast Region tournament champion Armstrong Atlantic State has two first team selections. Pirate sophomore setter Hannah Segebart (Littleton, Colo.) leads the Peach Belt Conference and the Southeast Region and ranks sixth in NCAA Division II, averaging 11.92 assists per game.

Segebart is only the third setter in AASU school history with 1,000+ assists in a season. In two short seasons, she already ranks fourth on AASU's all-time assist chart with 2,065. In the regionals, she set career highs in assists on two separate occasions as she helped the Pirates to the title (70 vs. Lander and 71 vs. LMU). Her 2008 resume includes All-PBC honors and All-Southeast Region tournament team laurels.

AASU freshman outside hitter Torrie Bevolo (St. Louis, Mo.) is also a first team pick. The 2008 PBC tournament MVP, Bevolo also earned a spot on the All-Southeast Region tournament team. On the PBC charts, she currently ranks fourth in kills per game (3.15), sixth in service aces per game (0.33) and eighth in digs per game (3.33) .

Bevolo has 23 matches this season with 10+ kills, including a stretch of nine straight matches from Sept. 23 to Oct. 18. She has posted 20 matches with 10+ digs. In Armstrong Atlantic State's come-from-behind 3-2 victory over Lander in the NCAA regional quarterfinals, Bevolo had 21 kills and 26 digs as the Pirates rallied from a 2-0 set deficit and a 14-9 margin in set five.

Wingate sophomore middle blocker Stormi Gale (Richmond, Texas) is one of two Bulldogs on the first team. The 2007 SAC Freshman of the Year, Gale is a two-time first team All-SAC selection. She has earned all-tournament honors in both the Food Lion SAC tournament and the NCAA Southeast Regional tournament this year. In addition, Gale was named the MVP of the 2008 SAC tourney.

Gale led the Bulldogs and finished fourth in the SAC with 3.57 kills per set. She was third in the league with a .319 hitting percentage and fourth with 0.86 blocks per set. Gale also finished second on the team with 2.40 digs per set, while collecting 10 double-doubles on the year. She was even better in the postseason, averaging 4.17 kills, 2.44 digs and 1.28 blocks per set in the SAC tournament and regionals, while hitting .399.

Wingate freshman Maggie Malone (Chicago, Ill.) is the first team libero. Malone finished fourth in the SAC with 3.94 digs per set, while leading the conference with 4.27 digs per set against league opponents. She also led the Bulldog team with 40 aces. Malone was a first team All-SAC selection, while also earning all-freshman team honors.

Malone had 23 matches with at least 10 digs on the year.

A senior outside hitter from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, Newberry College's Priscila Sales is also a first team choice. Sales notched 418 total kills (3.87/set) to break her NC record for total kills in a season. Her two-year total of 821 kills ranks sixth in school history, despite the fact she played only two seasons at Newberry.

A first team All-SAC selection, Sales helped the scarlet and gray advance to the Food Lion SAC tournament semifinals for the second consecutive season. Sales also averaged 0.51 aces per set and 2.35 digs per set in one of the most impressive volleyball seasons in Newberry College history.

The team is sponsored by Daktronics, Inc., an acknowledged world leader in scoring, timing and programmable display systems for virtually every sport at every level of competition. The team is voted on by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).

The online nomination and voting processes are powered by ATHLETICSITE.COM. Headquartered in Charleston, S.C., ATHLETICSITE.COM is the official provider for college athletic websites for over 30 sports organizations, including 26 colleges, universities and conferences primarily at the NCAA Division II level.

Daktronics All-Southeast Region Volleyball team (selected by CoSIDA)
Player of the Year - Melissa Powers, Catawba

First team
Outside hitter
Torrie Bevolo, Armstrong Atlantic State
Melissa Griffith, Catawba
Priscila Sales, Newberry

Middle hitter
Melissa Powers, Catawba
Stormi Gale, Wingate

Libero
Maggie Malone, Wingate

Setter
Hannah Segebart, Armstrong Atlantic State

Second team
Outside hitter
Melissa Thomas, Limestone
Carly Mozgai, Carson-Newman
Amanda Horenkamp, Lincoln Memorial

Middle hitter
Rindy Vidovich, Armstrong Atlantic State
Racey Bartley, Mount Olive

Libero
Mallory Peavler, Mount Olive

Setter
Liz Willis, Wingate