Wednesday, December 8, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. – After leading Western Washington to a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals, Vikings’ junior outside hitter Gabby Gunterman has been named a First Team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and leads eight GNAC players named All-Americans by the AVCA and Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA).

On the AVCA team, Alaska Anchorage junior opposite Eve Stephens was named a Second Team All-American for the second time while Central Washington sophomore setter/outside hitter Tia Andaya and Simon Fraser freshman opposite Brooke Dexter earned third-team honors. Four players were recognized as honorable mentions: Western Washington junior middle blocker Olivia Fairchild, Seattle Pacific sophomore middle blocker Hannah Hair, Western Washington sophomore outside hitter Calley Heilborn and Simon Fraser senior setter Julia Tays.

Gunterman and Fairchild also earned Honorable Mention All-American status from the D2CCA.

All seven honorees were named earlier this month to All-West Region teams by the AVCA and D2CCA. Gunterman and Fairchild were consensus first-team all-region selections.

The GNAC Player of the Year, Gunterman is the third Western Washington player in the last five years to be named a First Team All-American (Abby Phelps in 2017 & 2018, Kayleigh Harper in 2019). She enters the NCAA Championships averaging 3.27 kills and 4.03 points per set, ranking fifth in the GNAC in both categories. Her 3.44 digs per set rank 11th in the conference. Gunterman has 15 double-doubles on the season, helping lead WWU to its fourth West Regional championship. She has double-digit kills in 19 matches and double-digit digs in 20 matches, led by her 22 kills and 22 digs at Alaska on October 28.

Stephens was named to the AVCA All-America Team for the third consecutive year, earning second-team honors in 2019 and honorable mention in 2018. Stephens finished second in the GNAC with 3.84 kills and 4.67 points per set and was fourth with 0.42 aces per set. Among Division II players, Stephens ranks 13th in points per set and 28th in kills per set. She had double-digit kills in 24 matches and double-doubles in 11 matches with a high of 26 kills against Central Washington on October 7.

Dexter was named both the GNAC and AVCA West Region Freshman of the Year after leading the GNAC and ranking 12th in Division II with 4.15 kills per set. She also leads the conference and ranks 12th in Division II with 4.69 points per set. Dexter had double-digit kills in 23 matches, including her last nine matches of the season. She had a season-high 27 against Western Washington on September 18.

Andaya, the GNAC Newcomer of the Year, set the conference single-season record with eight triple-doubles on the season (kills, digs & assists) and sits one short of the career record. Andaya finished the year averaging 2.27 kills, 5.07 assists and 2.24 digs per set. She posted season-highs of 16 kills against Western Washington on September 23, 31 assists at Western Oregon on November 13 and 17 digs against Northwest Nazarene on October 1.

Fairchild leads the conference and ranks seventh in Division II with 1.37 blocks per set and also ranks fourth in the GNAC with a .329 hitting percentage. Fairchild is averaging 2.49 kills per set and has 15 double-digit kill performances on the year and had season-highs of 19 kills and 10 blocks against Cal State San Bernardino on September 11.

Hair was right behind Fairchild in terms of blocking, ranking second in the GNAC and ninth in Division II with 1.35 per set. She averaged 2.55 kills and 3.31 points per set, finishing with double-digit kills 10 times. Hair hit a season-high 14 kills in four different matches and established a best of 11 blocks against Central Washington on September 18.

Heilborn enters the NCAA quarterfinals ranked sixth in the GNAC with 3.21 kills, 4.18 digs and 3.85 points per set. Heilborn has 20 double-doubles on the season. She has double-digit kill in all but five matches this season and double-digit digs in all but three with season highs of 26 kills at Alaska on October 28 and 29 digs against Cal State San Bernardino on September 11.

Tays finished second in the GNAC and 12th in Division II with 11.10 assists per set while also averaging 2.86 digs per set. Tays finished with double-doubles in 15 matches, establishing season-highs of 62 assists and 22 digs against Northwest Nazarene on October 23.