Volleyball lands three on Volleyball Magazine All-America Team
Jan. 20, 2009 AUSTIN, Texas -- The Texas Volleyball trio of junior opposite hitter Ashley Engle, junior outside hitter Destinee Hooker and senior middle blocker Lauren Paolini earned its second All-America honors of the year, after being named UnderArmour/Volleyball Magazine All-Americans in the publication's February issue. Engle and Hooker were named to the first team, while Paolini garnered second-team accolades. Following the 2008 season, all three players were named AVCA All-America First Team selections. The UnderArmour/Volleyball Magazine award was the second first-team honor of Engle's career (2006). Hooker earned her second straight award after earning second team honors in 2007, while Paolini earned her first Volleyball honor. Engle, a Yorba Linda, Calif, native earned first-team honors in addition to her AVCA All-Central Region First Team and All-Big 12 First Team accolades. The junior ranked third on the squad with 2.90 kills and second with 2.22 digs per-set. Her .303 attack mark ranked eighth in the Big 12. Engle averaged 0.72 blocks and 1.03 assist per-set and tallied 33 service aces. Hooker, a San Antonio, Texas, native grabbed first-team All-America honors after garnering second-team honors last season. The junior was also named AVCA All-Central Region First Team and All-Big 12 First Team. Hooker paced the Longhorns attack in 2008, averaging a team-best 4.10 kills per-set and a Big 12-best 4.89 points per-set. She ranked seventh in the league with a .322 attack mark and lead her Texas squad with a team-best 37 service aces. Paolini earned her fourth postseason honor after claiming AVCA All-America First Team, AVCA All-Region First Team and All-Big 12 First Team honors. The Ann Arbor, Mich., native ranked second in the NCAA with a .478 hitting percentage, a mark that bested her single-season UT record of .419, set in 2007. Paolini ranked fourth on the squad with 2.63 kills per-set and second on the team with 0.86 blocks per-set.
Texas (29-4) ended its season in the NCAA Semifinals with a 3-2 loss to No. 2 Stanford, marking the Horns' first trip to the semifinals since 1994. The Longhorns concluded the year ranked fourth in the Bison/AVCA Coaches Poll after posting its highest win total since the 1993 season. |
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