Wednesday, November 30, 2016

PORTLAND, Ore. – In a season where the GNAC dominated selections to the NCAA Division II West Regional Championship, the conference’s dominance is also visible in the selections to the D2CCA and American Volleyball Coaches Association’s (AVCA) All-West Region Teams.

The GNAC landed five of seven spots on the D2CCA All-West Region First Team in addition to two second team selections. The list is led by Alaska Anchorage setter Morgan Hooe, who added West Region Player of the Year honors to her GNAC Player of the Year award she earned last week. In addition, seven GNAC athletes were selected to the AVCA’s All-West Region, which included Freshman of the Year honors for Alaska Anchorage middle blocker Diana Fa’amausili.

The GNAC’s seven selections to both the D2CCA and AVCA squads are the most of any West Region conference.

Four players earned selection to both first teams: Alaska Anchorage’s Hooe and outside hitter Leah Swiss, Simon Fraser libero Alison McKay and Northwest Nazarene middle blocker Madi Farrell. Central Washington middle blocker Sabrina Wheelhouse also earned D2CCA first team honors.

Additional first team honorees to the AVCA first team include Northwest Nazarene outside hitter Kendra Bodine, Western Washington middle blocker Kayleigh Harper and Vikings’ outside hitter Abby Phelps. Harper and Bodine were also D2CCA selections while Fa’amausili and Wheelhouse were honorable mentions to the AVCA squad.

Hooe and Farrell were named to the AVCA All-West Region Team for the second consecutive year while Hooe earned D2CCA All-West Region First Team selections for the second straight year. Farrell and Harper were D2CCA second team selections in 2015.

All of the GNAC’s honorees will be in action at the NCAA Division II West Region Volleyball Championship, which runs Dec. 1-3 at Alaska Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.

Hooe, the D2CCA West Region Player of the Year, was the prime mover behind an Alaska Anchorage squad that finished the regular season at 29-2 overall en route to winning its second straight GNAC championship. The starting setter for the Seawolves averaged 10.57 assists per set during the regular season, but also proved a solid hitter with a team-best .396 hitting percentage. Hooe finished with double-doubles (digs and assists) in 13 matches, which included an effort of 53 assists and 16 digs against Northwest Nazarene on Nov. 10. Offensively, Hooe finished with seven kills in two matches and hit .357 against Central Washington on Nov. 12.

Fa’amausili was also selected as the GNAC Freshman of the Year. She finished the regular season 10th in the GNAC with a .258 hitting percentage and eighth in the league with an average of 1.06 blocks per set. A starter in 21 of the Seawolves’ 31 matches, Fa’amausili had her best effort of the regular season with 15 kills and eight blocks against Northwest Nazarene on Nov. 10.