Dec. 14, 2005

COLUMBIA, Mo.--The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced their All-America teams for the 2005 season Wednesday afternoon. Senior Lindsey Hunter became the first Missouri volleyball player in history to land on the first team of an All-America squad with her second career All-America tabbing. Juniors Nicole Wilson and Jessica Vander Kooi are honorable mention AVCA All-Americans, bringing Mizzou volleyball's all-time All-America count from two to five.

 

The two previous Tiger All-Americans were Hunter, who was named to the second team in 2004, and Christi Myers, who earned third-team accolades in 2000.

 

Hunter (Papillion, Neb.) was named to the All-America first team for the first time, grabbing her second career All-America honor. The senior was earlier named AVCA All-Central Region and All-Big 12 for the third-consecutive season. The Tiger setter has lead the Big 12 in assists per game in each of her four years at Mizzou, becoming the first Big 12 student-athlete to finish a season leading the same statistical category in every year of eligibility. Her 14.22 assists per game this season paced her to 13.73 for her career, putting her sixth all-time in NCAA history in the category. Hunter also accumulated 6,096 assists, finishing 15^th in NCAA history in that category. In addition, in her career at Mizzou, Hunter has added 2.40 digs per game and 0.32 aces per game. As a team, Hunter led Mizzou to a .299 hitting percentage in the season, an all-time high for a Tiger squad.

 

Vander Kooi (Hinton, Iowa) has been named an All-American for the first time in her career, after having one of the best all-around seasons an outside hitter can have. The 2003 AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year is now averaged 3.42 kills per game on .267 hitting, adding 2.77 digs per game, 0.29 aces per game, and 0.99 blocks per game. Most notably, Vander Kooi was a driving force in the Tigers two-game-deficit comeback at then-No. 24 Kansas State on October 26^th, scoring on three-consecutive blocks to seal the match for the Tigers and nearly scored a quadruple-double on the night, scoring on 14 kills, nine blocks, adding 21 digs and eight assists. Vander Kooi is also the only Tiger to score a 20-20 on the season, grabbing 23 kills and 22 digs at No. 1 Nebraska.

 

Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) earned her first spot on the All-America list with her outstanding middle-blocker play this season. Overall, Wilson had a .415 hitting percentage in 2005, which will break Mizzou's all-time season record and become one of the best 20 performances the nation has seen in the last five years. Her .415 hitting percentage for all games will also go down as a new Big 12 record. Wilson, through the region rounds of NCAA play, is third in the nation in hitting percentage. Wilson has also added 1.26 blocks per game this season.

 

The Big 12 Conference garnered a national-high five athletes on the All-America First Team with Nebraska's Melissa Elmer, Christina Houghtelling, and Sarah Pavan along with Texas A&M's Laura Jones, and Tigers' Hunter.

 

Missouri finished the 2005 season with a 25-5 overall record, setting a new team record in season winning percentage, earning their first trip to the regional rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers, in their sixth-consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, also made their first appearance in the round of eight, after defeating No. 6 Hawaii on December 9.

 

From the AVCA:

 

2005 AVCA DIVISION I ALL-AMERICA FIRST-TEAM^SM

Player	Institution	Pos.	Yr.	Ht.	Hometown
Jane Collymore @	University of Florida	OH	Sr.	6-0	Englewood, Colorado
Melissa Elmer ^$	University of Nebraska	MB	Sr.	6-2	Fort Wayne, Indiana
Kim Glass !&	University of Arizona	OH	Sr.	6-4	Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Christina Houghtelling	University of Nebraska	RS/Opp	Jr.	6-2	Cambridge, Nebraska
Lindsey Hunter #	University of Missouri	S	Sr.	5-10	Papillion, Nebraska
Laura Jones #	Texas A&M University	OH	Sr.	6-2	Arlington, Texas
Sarah Pavan ^	University of Nebraska	RS/Opp	So.	6-5	Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
Cassie Perret	Santa Clara University	RS/Opp	Sr.	6-1	Menlo Park, California
Kristin Richards	Stanford University	OH	Jr.	6-0	Orem, Utah
Courtney Thompson ^	University of Washington	S	Jr.	5-7	Kent, Washington
Sanja Tomasevic $	University of Washington	OH	Sr.	6-1	Uzice, Serbia & Montenegro
Sam Tortorello ^$	Penn State University	S	Sr.	5-11	Shorewood, Illinois

2005 AVCA DIVISION I ALL-AMERICA SECOND- TEAM^SM

Player	Institution	Pos.	Yr.	Ht.	Hometown
Foluke Akinradewo	Stanford University	MB	Fr.	6-3	Plantation, Florida
Kristen Andre	University of Tennessee	MB	Sr.	6-1	Kelseyville, California
Leticia Armstrong	University of Texas	MB	So.	6-1	Elkhart, Indiana
Lauren Brewster @	University of Notre Dame	MB	Sr.	6-3	Brentwood, Tennessee
Bibiana Candelas @*	Univ. of Southern California	OH	Sr.	6-5	Torreon, Mexico
Nicole Fawcett	Penn State University	OH	Fr.	6-4	Zanesfield, Ohio
Jennifer Hoffman	University of Louisville	MB	Sr.	6-1	Chicago, Illinois
Candace Lee	University of Washington	Lib/DS	Sr.	5-7	Eugene, Oregon
Marisa Main #	The Ohio State University	S	Jr.	5-9	Louisville, Kentucky
Victoria Prince #	University of Hawai'i	MB	Sr.	6-0	Kennewick, Washington
Lena Ustymenko	University of Louisville	OH	Sr.	6-3	Kiev, Ukraine
Melissa Walbridge	Penn State University	MB	So.	6-3	Yardley, Pennsylvania

2005 AVCA DIVISION I ALL-AMERICA THIRD- TEAM^SM

Player	Institution	Pos.	Yr.	Ht.	Hometown
Jennifer Abernathy	University of Arizona	OH	Sr.	5-11	Antioch, California
Anna Cmaylo	Santa Clara University	MB	So.	6-4	Napa, California
Kanoe Kamana'o ^!	University of Hawai'i	S	Jr.	5-8	Honolulu, Hawai'i
Bryn Kehoe	Stanford University	S	So.	5-11	North Bend, Ohio
Brandy Magee	University of Texas	MB	Jr.	6-2	Mission Viejo, California
Crystal Matich	Santa Clara University	S	So.	5-11	Forestville, California
Angie McGinnis	University of Florida	S	So.	5-11	Fraser, Michigan
Nana Meriwether	UCLA	MB	Jr.	6-1	Potomac, Maryland
Danielle Meyer	The Ohio State University	MB	So.	6-1	Cincinnati, Ohio
Christal Morrison #	University of Washington	OH	So.	6-2	Puyallup, Washington
Jennifer Saleaumua #	University of Nebraska	OH	Sr.	5-11	National City, California
Sheila Shaw	University of Wisconsin	MB	Sr.	6-0	Muskego, Wisconsin

^ indicates 2004 AVCA First-Team All-America selection
* indicates 2003 AVCA First-Team All-America selection
# indicates 2004 AVCA Second-Team All-America selection
$ indicates 2003 AVCA Second-Team All-America selection
@ indicates 2004 AVCA Third-Team All-America selection
! indicates 2003 AVCA Third-Team All-America selection

2005 AVCA Division I Freshman of the Year^SM: Nicole Fawcett (Penn State University, Outside Hitter)
2005 AVCA Division I Player of the Year^SM: Announced at AVCA All-America/Players of the Year Banquet^SM on Dec. 16, 2005

AVCA All-America Honorable Mention^SM
Megan Argabright (Western Kentucky, MB, Fr.)
Faye Barhorst (Dayton, MB, Jr.)
Kelly-Anne Billingy (Marshall, RS/Opp, So.)
Elizabeth Bishop (Cornell, OH, Jr.)
Caron Blotch (Western Kentucky, S, Sr.)
Abbey Breit (Jacksonville State, MB, So.)
Blair Buchanan (Albany, S, Jr.)
Zuzana Cernianska (Utah State, OH, Sr.)
Alexis Crimes (Long Beach State, MB, So.)
Renata Dargan (Purdue, S, Sr.)
Christie Dawson (San Diego, RS/Opp, Jr.)
Carrie DeMange (Duke, MB, So.)
Andreya Downs (Colorado State, MB, Sr.)
Kelly Duan (Syracuse, RS/Opp, Sr.)
Lauren Evans (Brigham Young University, S, Sr.)
Liz Guard (Eastern Kentucky, MB, Sr.)
Paula Gentil (Minnesota, DS/Lib, Sr.)
Jaci Gonzalez (Houston, DS/Lib, Sr.)
Allie Griffin (Colorado, RS/Opp, Sr.)
Christa Harmotto (Penn State, MB, Fr.)
Lindsy Hartstock (Brigham Young, MB, Jr.)
Ali Hausfeld (Duke, S, So.)
Karla Johnson (Miami [Fla.], OH, Sr.)
Lauren Kelbley (Notre Dame, OH, Sr.)
Nickole Kennedy (Cleveland State, RS/Opp, Sr.)
Kisya Killingsworth (Florida, MB, So.)
Sarah Kirkwood (Virginia, OH, So.)
Julie Knytych (Tennessee, S, Sr.)
Ivana Kuzmic (LSU, MB, Sr.)
Lindsey Laband (Georgia Tech, S, Sr.)
Andressa Lyra (Middle Tennessee, OH, Jr.)
Amanda McCormick (Ball State, DS/Lib, Jr.)
Megan McGrane (Pittsburgh, DS/Lib, Sr.)
Michelle Moriarty (Texas, S, So.)
Jessie Nevitt (Cincinnati, MB, Fr.)
Dani Nyenhuis (North Carolina, OH, Sr.)
Kim Oguh (New Mexico State, MB, So.)
Alexandra Oquendo (Georgia, MB, Sr.)
Kelly Paiva (Florida Atlantic, OH, Sr.)
Olaya Pazo (Rice, OH, Sr.)
Sara Radosevic (Tulane, OH, Fr.)
Rachel Refenes (Ball State, MB, Sr.)
Kariny Ritter (Houston, OH, Sr.)
Salaia Salave'a (Nevada, MB, Sr.)
Janine Sandell (UC Santa Barbara, OH, Jr.)
Andreza Santos (Florida State, OH, Sr.)
Becca Sartori (Houston, MB, Jr.)
Francheska Savage (Miami [Fla.], MB, Jr.)
Jenny Shull (Duke, DS/Lib, So.)
Julia Silva (Tulsa, S, So.)
Stephanie Smith (Maryland, MB, Sr.)
Shelly Sommerfeldt (Utah, OH, Sr.)
Kari Stacy (Texas-El Paso, OH, Sr.)
Adrianna Stasiuk (Notre Dame, OH, So.)
Katie Stein (Marshall, S, Sr.)
Yuliya Stoyanova (Tennessee, OH, So.)
Elif Unlu (UNC Asheville, OH, Jr.)
Jessica Vander Kooi (Missouri, RS/Opp, Jr.)
Amanda Vazquez (UC Irvine, MB, Sr.)
Rachel Wagener (Maryland, MB, Sr.)
Kaleena Walters (Penn State, DS/Lib, Sr.)
Nicole Wilson (Missouri, MB, Jr.)
Julia Winkfield (Ohio, MB, Sr.)
Ana Yartseva (Louisville, MB, Jr.)