Lauren Budde Leads Five on 2011 All-UAA Volleyball Team
St. Louis, Mo., November 9, 2011 – The No. 2 ranked Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team had five student-athletes receive 2011 All-University Athletic Association (UAA) accolades, as announced Wednesday by the Association.
In addition, head coach Rich Luenemann and assistant coaches Lisa Orlet, Geoff Davis, Jim Hunstein, Rose Obunaga, Brent Ruoff and Kathy Wuller earned UAA Coaching Staff of the Year honors.
Senior middle hitter Lauren Budde led three first-team All-UAA selections for the Bears and was selected as the 2011 UAA Most Valuable Player. Junior setter Marilee Fisher and junior libero Kelly Pang joined Budde on the first team, while sophomore outside hitter Meghan Byrne and junior outside hitter Drew Hargrave earned second-team accolades.
Washington University won the 2011 UAA Championship last weekend, held on the campus of New York University. The Bears were 9-1 overall in UAA play, and came from behind to defeat then No. 2-ranked Emory University, 3-2, in the championship match.
Budde is the 12th student-athlete at Washington University to be named UAA Most Valuable Player, and the first since Nikki Morrison in 2008. She is third in the UAA in kills (411) and hitting percentage (.379) and leads the UAA in kills per set (3.95). Budde also earned first-team All-UAA accolades in 2009 and second-team in 2010. She was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team in 2009 and AVCA All-Central Region team in 2010.
Fisher is making her third-straight appearance on an All-UAA team; she earned first-team accolades in 2009 and second-team honors in 2010. Fisher has 1,054 assists on the season and leads the UAA in assists per set (11.09). She is sixth all-time on the Bears’ assists list with 3,379. She also was named a first-team AVCA All-American in 2010 and second-team in 2009.
Pang is on her third-straight All-UAA first team and has 498 digs on the year, including 5.08 digs per set, which is second in the UAA. She broke the school record with 36 digs against No. 3 Emory on Oct. 16, at the UAA Round Robin #2. She was named AVCA Division III Freshman of the year in 2009, and was an AVCA first-team All-American selection in 2009 and 2010.
Byrne returns to the All-UAA team after being named to the first team in 2010. She is second on the team with 270 kills and is hitting .306 on the season. Byrne also has 25 service aces and is second in the UAA in kills per set with 2.97. She was named UAA Rookie of the Year and AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year in 2010.
Hargrave was named honorable mention All-UAA in 2010 and is averaging 3.27 kills per set, good for fifth in the UAA. Hargrave has 247 kills on the season, including 82 in conference play. She was named to the AVCA All-Central Region team and to the UAA All-Academic team in 2010.
The Bears will host the 2011 NCAA Division III Regional on Friday-Sunday, Nov. 11-13, at the WU Field House. Washington U. takes on Webster University in the first round on Friday at 8 p.m.