Ogden, Utah (Nov. 24, 2011) - The Big Sky Conference has announced its volleyball All-Conference team and individual award winners for the 2011 season. Northern Colorado’s Kelley Arnold was a unanimous selection for this year’s Most Valuable Player. This is the first MVP honors from Northern Colorado.

The team was selected by the league coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes.

Northern Colorado’s junior outside hitter Arnold is a two-time First Team selection along with Portland State’s Garyn Schlatter. Arnold, from Berthoud, Colo., recorded 392 kills with a .287 hitting percentage. She also had 249 digs and 87 blocks. Arnold earned Big Sky player of the week honors once this season, and has tallied 12 double-doubles.

NC, which won the regular-season title, takes the No. 1 seed into the championship, which begins Friday. NC will host the 2012 championship.

The Bears also claimed the Outstanding Freshman award and Libero of the Year award. Andrea Spaustat was named Outstanding Freshman and named to the First Team after recording 264 kills with a .353 hitting percentage so far this season. She also had 89 blocks and 66 digs. Spaustat, a freshman from Omaha, Neb., ranks 38th in the NCAA in hitting percentage at .353.

For the second consecutive year, Amanda Arterburn of NC was named the Libero of the Year. She was also named Second Team All-Conference. Arterburn, a senior from Aurora, Colo., leads the conference with 27 consecutive double-digit digs. Arterburn was named POTW once this season and she ranks 38th in the NCAA in digs per set with 5.14. She has 529 digs so far this season and 25 serving aces.

Weber State’s Dama Cox was named Top Newcomer. Cox is a transfer from the College of Southern Idaho, and is from Fernley, Nev. This season, Cox recorded 174 kills and 77 blocks. She averaged 1.74 kills per set and .77 blocks per set.

Others named to First Team were Cora Kellerman from Eastern Washington, Breanne Van Every of Idaho State and Megan Ellis of Portland State.

The 2011 Big Sky Conference volleyball championship begins Friday, Nov. 25, in Portland, Ore., hosted by Portland State. In the first semifinal round, the No. 4 Seed Eastern Washington will face the No. 1 Seed Northern Colorado at 5:30 p.m. PST. The second semifinal round will begin at 7:30 p.m. PST when the No. 3 Seed Sacramento State faces the No. 2 Seed Portland State. The winners of the two semifinal rounds will compete in the championship match at 7 p.m. PST on Saturday. All three matches can be viewed for free on Big Sky TV.

FIRST-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Name, School
Kelley Arnold, Northern Colorado
Cora Kellerman, Eastern Washington
Breanne Van Every, Idaho State
Andrea Spaustat, Northern Colorado
Megan Ellis, Portland State
Garyn Schlatter, Portland State

 

SECOND-TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE
Name, School
Shelby Puckett, Eastern Washington
Kayla Reno, Montana
Amanda Arterburn, Northern Colorado
Marissa Hughes, Northern Colorado
Eryn Kirby, Sacramento State
Kelsey Elston, Sacramento State

 

HONORABLE MENTION
Name, School
Vanessa Muir, Idaho State
Brittany Quick, Montana
Rachelle Allen, Montana State
Anna Gott, Northern Arizona
Sydney Kemper, Northern Arizona
Katie O’Brien, Portland State
Aubrey Mitchell, Portland State
Breanne Menees, Sacramento State
Bethany Wray, Weber State

INDIVIDUAL AWARD WINNERS
Most Valuable Player - Kelley Arnold, Jr., OH, Northern Colorado
Top Newcomer - Dama Cox, Jr., RS, Weber State
Outstanding Freshman - Andrea Spaustat, Fr., MB, Northern Colorado
Libero of the Year - Amanda Arterburn, Sr., L, Northern Colorado