Nov. 12, 2007

FAIRBANKS, AK- Two Alaska Nanooks women's volleyball players received honorable mention for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Star volleyball team announced Monday, as junior middle hitter Korlyn Bolster and sophomore outside hitter Megan Thigpen were among those honored.

It was the second year for both Nanooks to be applauded by the GNAC as Bolster also received Honorable Mention and Thigpen was an automatic first-team selection as the conference freshman of the year in 2006.

Bolster, who was one of three Alaska players to appear in all 101 games, led the team in hitting percentage (.242 overall, .252 in conference), which paced her eighth in the GNAC, and was third on the team in kills (231), fourth on the team in kills per game (2.29), and second on team in blocks (86, 0.85 bpg). She had double-figure kills ten times, including her career-best 16 kills on Sep. 27 at Northwest Nazarene. She also matched a GNAC record for hitting percentage this season, hitting .929 (13 kills, 0 errors, 14 attempts) on Oct. 4 against Saint Martins.

Thigpen led the team in kills and kills per game for the second straight season with 936 and 3.50, respectively. She was third in attack percentage (.178), first in aces per game (0.34), first in digs per game (3.44) and fifth in total blocks with 29. Over the course of the season, Thigpen notched 19 double-doubles, including a stretch of nine consecutive such performances, and posted a team season-high of 24 kills at Seattle Pacific on Sept. 29.

The Nanooks, who finished the season eighth in the GNAC with a 4-14 conference mark and 10-16 overall record, will hold their annual awards banquet on December 3. Complete banquet details will be released once they have been finalized.

The full list of the 2007 GNAC VOLLEYBALL ALL-STAR TEAM is as follows:

First Team
++*Alyssa Given, Seattle Pacific Outside Hitter 5-10 Sr. Salinas, CA
Kayla Mainer, Western Oregon Outside Hitter 5-10 Jr. Spokane, WA
+Cammy Dranginis, Northwest Nazarene Middle Blocker 6-0 So. Nampa, ID
Rachael Schurman, Central Washington Middle Blocker 6-0 Jr. Spokane, WA
Tiana Roma, Western Washington Middle Blocker 6-0 Jr. Edmonds, WA
Katie Robinson, Western Washington Setter 5-9 Sr. Everson, WA
++*Courtney Schneider, Western Washington Libero 5-9 Sr. Snohomish, WA

+Repeater ++Two-time repeater *Unanimous

Second Team
Jaime Anderson, Western Washington Outside Hitter 6-0 Sr. SeaTac, WA
Devon Crotteau, Montana State Billings Outside Hitter 6-0 So. Casper, Wyo.
Stacey Bennett, Western Oregon Rightside Hitter 6-3 Jr. Beaverton, OR
Lindsay Forseth, Northwest Nazarene Outside Hitter 6-1 So. Nampa, ID
Nikole Thompson, Seattle Outside Hitter 5-10 Sr. Marysville, WA
Allison James, Northwest Nazarene Setter 5-10 Sr. San Diego, CA
Claire Carpenter, Western Oregon Libero 5-4 Sr. Gresham, OR

Honorable Mention
Shealun Campisi, Saint Martin's Outside Hitter 5-11 So. Buckley, WA
Erin Norris, Central Washington Outside Hitter 5-10 So. Spokane, WA
Emily Castro, Western Washington Outside Hitter 5-11 Sr. Bellingham, WA
Megan Thigpen, Alaska Fairbanks Outside Hitter 5-10 So. Spokane, WA
Angie Wodrich, Seattle Pacific Opposite 5-10 Sr. Richland, WA
Alicia Cazemier, Montana State Billings Middle Blocker 6-0 Sr. Vauxhall, AB
Korlyn Bolster, Alaska Fairbanks Middle Blocker 6-1 Jr. Guerneville, CA
Rachel Biornstad, Seattle Pacific Middle Blocker 6-0 Sr. Kent, WA
Angie Alvord, Western Washington Middle Blocker 6-0 Jr. Laurel, WA
Amy Herron, Western Oregon Setter 5-5 So. Spokane, WA
Joelle Perez, Seattle Pacific Setter 5-9 Fr. Vancouver, WA
Erika Stevens, Central Washington Libero 5-8 Sr. Fairbanks, AK

+Repeater *Unanimous

Player-of-the-Year - Courtney Schneider, Western Washington
Coach-of-the-Year -Diane Flick, Western Washington
Newcomer-of-the-Year - Kayla Mainer, Western Oregon
Freshman-of-the-Year - Jamie Mellies, Seattle University & Joelle Perez, Seattle Pacific