Pam Ferris Named First-Team All-Conference USA
November 16, 2005 | Volleyball
Nov. 16, 2005
IRVING, Texas - Senior outside hitter Pam Ferris headlines three East Carolina players who earned All-Conference USA honors as announced by the league office Wednesday morning. Fellow senior outside hitter Erica Wilson and junior setter Heidi Krug were named to the third team for their performances this season. The C-USA all-league first, second and third teams as well as the postseason award winners were selected by the conference's coaches.
Ferris, who recently became one of just five players in school history to record 400 kills in a season, leads the Pirates in kills (428), kills per game (4.00) and service aces (40) while ranking second on the team with 309 digs (2.89 dpg). With 1,064 career kills, she is also one of six players in school history to record at least 1,000 kills in a career. She currently ranks third all-time with 152 career aces and needs just five more to set a new career mark at ECU.
Wilson is tied with fellow outside hitter Mignon Dubenion to lead the team with a .320 attack percentage, the third highest percentage among all C-USA players. She also ranks second on the team with 297 kills and third with 60 total blocks. Wilson ranks seventh all-time at ECU with 933 career kills.
Krug set the all-time single-season assist mark at East Carolina over the weekend and currently has 1,416 assists (13.23). She leads the conference in total digs and ranks second in digs per game. Krug also has 66 kills, 49 total blocks, 30 aces and 212 digs this season.
Following honors such as C-USA Preseason Player of the Year and Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week, it is no surprise as sophomore Kelly-Anne Billingy of Marshall was also named the 2005 Conference USA Player of the Year for women's volleyball, as selected by the league coaches.
Billingy is a three-time C-USA Player of the Week and was awarded the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week award on Oct. 31. Billingy's .364 hitting percentage leads the league, as do her 5.68 kills per game. Billingy is third in the nation in kills per game. She recorded double-digits kills in every match except at No. 2 Penn State. She hit over .500 in six matches and was held under .300 in just two C-USA matches. The Trinidad native set the Marshall single-match kills record with 38 at Memphis, which is also the highest total in a C-USA match this season. As only a sophomore, Billingy eclipsed the 1,000 career-kill plateau and is currently in fourth place in Marshall history with her 1,154.
Head coach Mitch Jacobs, who currently leads Marshall in its longest winning streak since 1977 with nine consecutive victories, was named the 2005 C-USA Coach of the Year. Marshall recorded not only the Conference USA regular season title in its inaugural year in C-USA, but earned the No. 1 seed in the 2005 C-USA Volleyball Championship, which will be played Nov. 17-20 at Rice's Autry Court in Houston. The Herd holds an overall record of 23-5 and are 15-1 in league action. The 23 victories are the second most in school history since 1995 when the Herd won 25.
Marshall's Katie Stein was named 2005 Setter of the Year, after breaking the Marshall records for all-time assists and aces this season. She has totaled 5,662 assists, 1,143 digs and 196 service aces in her career, and recorded the first triple-double in Herd history at Memphis on Oct. 16.
For the second consecutive year, Gonzalez earned the 2005 Defensive Specialist of the Year. The Cougar is one of only three UH players to compete in all 101 games this season, and currently sits third all-time in NCAA history with 2,379 career digs. Gonzalez became the 13th player on the NCAA charts to surpass 2,000 digs against South Carolina on Sept. 16 and broke the C-USA record for career digs (2,074) against Tulane on Oct. 2.
The 2005 C-USA Volleyball Championship tips off this Thursday, November 17 at Rice's Autry Court in Houston, Texas. For complete coverage of the tournament, including a bracket and match times, go to the official conference website at www.ConferenceUSA.com.
2005 ALL-CONFERENCE USA AWARDS
All-Conference First Team
Kelly-Anne Billingy, Sophomore, Outside Hitter, Marshall
Pam Ferris, Senior, Outside Hitter, East Carolina
Jaci Gonzalez, Senior, Libero, Houston
Olaya Pazo, Senior, Reserve Setter/Outside Hitter, Rice
Kariny Ritter, Senior, Outside Hitter, Houston
Kari Stacy, Senior, Outside Hitter, UTEP
Katie Stein, Senior, Setter, Marshall
All-Conference Second Team
Natalie Peters, Freshman, Middle Blocker, SMU
Sara Radosevic, Freshman, Outside Hitter, Tulane
Nickie Sanlin, Senior, Middle Blocker, Marshall
Becca Sartori, Junior, Middle Blocker, Houston
Julia Silva, Sophomore, Setter, Tulsa
Kassiana Urnau, Sophomore, Outside Hitter, Tulsa
Evyn Wills, Senior, Libero, Tulsa
All-Conference Third
Ivana Bozic, Freshman, Outside Hitter, UAB
Stephanie Cahill, Sophomore, Outside Hitter, Marshall
Kelly Dickson, Senior, Libero, Tulane
Heidi Krug, Junior, Setter, East Carolina
Tessa Kuykendall, Junior, Middle Blocker, Rice
Brooke Peugh, Freshman, Middle Blocker, UTEP
Erica Wilson, Senior, Outside Hitter, East Carolina
All-Freshman Team
Ivana Bozic, Outside Hitter, UAB
Justine Farmer, Outside Hitter, Houston
Natalie Peters, Middle Blocker, SMU
Brooke Peugh, Middle Blocker, UTEP
Sara Radosevic, Outside Hitter, Tulane
Luna Rebrovic, Setter, Tulane
Player of the Year
Kelly-Anne Billingy, Sophomore, Outside Hitter, Marshall
Coach of the Year
Mitch Jacobs, Marshall
Defensive Player of the Year
Jaci Gonzalez, Senior, Libero, Houston
Setter of the Year
Katie Stein, Senior, Setter, Marshall
Freshman of the Year
Sara Radosevic, Outside Hitter, Tulane
