SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Three Santa Clara volleyball players garnered American Volleyball Coaches Association all-region recognition, announced by the AVCA on Tuesday. Nikki Hess and Danielle Rottman were selected to the All-Pacific North Region Team and Kirsten Mead received an honorable mention accolade.
These are the first AVCA awards for Bronco volleyball since 2008, and match a single-season program best of three AVCA honorees (2005).
"I'm very happy to see that these girls have been recognized as some of the best players in the country by our fellow coaches," Bronco head coach Jon Wallace said. "All three had great years and contributed enormously to our success this season."
Hess, a junior outside hitter, led the Broncos with 450 kills and a 4.02 kills/set average; both marks rank 5th in the West Coast Conference after the first weekend of postseason play. She finished second on the team in digs (299) and block solos (14), and added 75 total blocks along with 42 assists and 23 aces. The First Team All-WCC selection had 13 double-doubles and posted 20 or more kills four times.
Rottman, a senior libero, set a single-season program record by averaging 4.96 digs/set — she led the conference in that category for the second year in a row. The All-WCC honorable mention selection finished second in SCU single-season history with 560 digs. Her 34 digs at Portland on Oct. 31 were the third-most in program history for a single match.
Mead, a sophomore setter, racked up 1,228 assists (11.06 assists/set, 2nd in WCC) and tallied 40 aces (0.36 aces/set, 3rd in WCC) on her way to earning First Team All-WCC honors. She is one of two players in the conference to rank in the top three of two different statistical categories. Mead also finished with 11 double-doubles, 276 digs, 76 kills and 54 block assists.
Washington's Kegan Cook took home Coach of the Year honors and Stanford's Hayley Hodson was named Freshman of the Year for the Pacific North region.
Santa Clara's last AVCA All-Region selection was Anna Cmaylo in 2008. Cmaylo, Cassie Perret and Crystal Matich were the three Broncos honored in 2005. Eight of Santa Clara's nine all-region honorees have gone on to earn All-American recognition.
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