Feb. 8, 2007

COLUMBIA, Mo.--Soon it seems but early off-season workouts have already begun for the No. 21 Mizzou volleyball team last week in preparation for the upcoming spring-scrimmage season. Meanwhile, future, current, and past Tigers have won awards for their performances on and off the court. Lei Wang and Na Yang were named Arthur Ashe Sports Scholars by Diverse Magazine, Abbie Booth was honored with the Brock Olivo Female Award, and incoming Tigers Caitlyn Vann and Catie Wilson were named High School All-Americans by prepvolleyball.com.

 

Outgoing Senior Abbie Booth To Be Awarded with Brock Olivo Female Award

The Tiger Club of Kansas City will present outgoing Tiger Abbie Booth (Kansas City, Mo. / Notre Dame de Sion HS) with the Brock Olivo Female Award on February 13. The awards, presented annually by the organization, recognize a male and female student-athlete from the Kansas City area that exemplifies desire, work ethic and leadership in their respective sport and are in their final year of eligibility.

 

Booth's award will be presented on Tuesday, February 13 at the Kansas City Football Recruiting Reception to be held at the Hilton Garden in Independence, Mo.

 

Booth was part of the Tiger starting lineup for three years as a defensive specialist. Over her Mizzou career, Booth tallied 565 digs and 62 service aces in 87 matches played, tallying 29 matches in which she recorded 10-or-more digs. Booth played in eight NCAA Tournament matches, averaging 2.07 digs per game, accumulating a career-tournament-best with 12 digs over Hawaii in the 2005 NCAA Regional Semifinal.

 

Booth will graduate from Mizzou with a degree in finance and banking. In addition, Booth was a three-time selection to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team at Missouri. Booth is the daughter of Don and Kim Chi Booth.

 

Lei Wang and Na Yang Named Arthur Ashe Sports Scholars

Tigers Lei Wang (Shanghai, China) and Na Yang (Shan Dong, China) were listed as Arthur Ashe Sports Scholars for 2006 by Diverse Magazine. The duo was named to the magazine's third team and was two of only 36 around the country to be named to a team.

 

In the 2006 season, Wang as a redshirt freshman was the squad's starting setter, having the task of replacing two-time All-American Lindsey Hunter. Wang did nicely in her first year as the team's quarterback, pacing the Tigers with 12.86 assists per game in Big 12 play, finishing the season ranked fifth in the category. Wang also had 10 assist-dig double-doubles in the Tigers' successful 2006 campaign. Wang is a international business major at Mizzou, with a 3.33 GPA. Wang was also named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team in 2006.

 

Yang had another solid year as an outside hitter for the Tigers. Having to battle back from off-season knee surgery, Yang was the team's third-leading scorer during her junior season, scoring 3.11 kills per game. In the NCAA Tournament, Yang was the Tigers leading kill leader with 18 in a sweep of Santa Clara in the first-round, adding 15 kills against national runner-up Stanford in the second round. Yang is an international business major with a 3.28 cumulative GPA.

 

Incoming Vann and Wilson Tabbed High School All-Americans

Prepvolleyball.com listed incoming Tigers Caitlynn Vann and Catie Wilson High School All-Americans from the 2006 Fall season. The website lists only 150 from around the nation to the list, and according to the website, "To be a High School All-American, you must have made a massive impact on your high school team. `Massive' is subjective, but at a minimum requires that you be the best player on your team and one of the top 3-5 players in your state regardless of class, except for volleyball hotbeds like California, Texas, Indiana and Illinois, where you must be among the 10 best HIGH SCHOOL players regardless of class."

 

Caitlyn Vann (L, Muncie, Ind., Burris HS)

Caitlyn Vann will come to Mizzou from Muncie, Ind., and Burris High School. Vann was a three-time All-State selection at Burris, earning first-team honors in her junior and senior seasons. While Vann was recruited as a libero, she played as a left-side hitter in her years in high school, tallying 442 kills and 368 digs as team captain in her recently completed senior season.

 

Vann was also a part of USA Volleyball's Junior National Training Team in 2006 and was before a two-year member of USAV's Youth National-A2 team. In addition, prepvolleyball.com has proclaimed Vann with many honors including in 2006 when she was tabbed as a "National First-Team Dandy Lion" for her all-around play that will likely be transformed into outstanding back-row play in the future. Also this season, she was selected by the online site as a Senior Ace. In 2005, she was named as Top-50 Junior Recruit.

 

"Caitlyn is one of the top libero prospects in the country," Head Coach Wayne Kreklow said. "She is an outstanding athlete, a great student, and a great person. Her combination of athletic talent and infectious personality will make her a fan-favorite here at Missouri. She will continue a tradition of great defensive players to play at Mizzou."

 

Vann's school, Burris High School, has won 10-straight Class 2A IHSAA Championships, and in 2004, Vann's sophomore season, Burris went 40-0 and was named High School National Champions by prepvolleyball.com.

 

"She's most definitely a winner," proclaimed Kreklow. Vann also is her high school basketball team's captain and leading scorer and holds career school records in steals and points in a game (38).

 

Catie Wilson (MB/OH, Omaha, Neb., Omaha Gross HS)

Catie Wilson (no relation to the current Wilsons on the team) will come to Mizzou from Omaha, Neb., and Gross High School. Wilson was a four-time All-State selection, earning first-team honors in her junior and senior seasons.

 

Wilson was also named to prepvolleyball.com's Senior Aces this season and to the website's top-70 junior prospects a year ago. Wilson also plays for the Nebraska Elite volleyball club.

 

"Catie is another great player from the state of Nebraska," said Kreklow. "She is also one of those classic great players that are also great students, and are the types of people we are looking for here at Mizzou. Catie is a very good offensive player, hitter, and blocker. At 6-3, she most definitely has the size and athletic ability to compete in the Big 12."

 

 

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