Four Rainbow Wahine, Jamie Houston, Kanoe Kamana`o, Sarah Mason and Juliana Sanders, earned all-West Region honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), marking the first year that Hawai`i ever placed four players on an all-region team. New Mexico State sophomore Amber Simpson and junior Kim Oguh also earned all-West Region honors. Their teammates Jackie Choi and Alice Borden earned honorable mention honors.
Kamana`o earned her fourth all-region honor, the only player on this year’s list that is a four-time all-region performer. Kamana`o is also the three-time WAC Player of the Year. She is ranked 10th in the country with 13.49 assists per game, while adding 0.97 blocks and 2.43 digs per game. She sets the UH offense, which ranks 17th in the country with a .269 hitting percentage.
Houston is making her first appearance on the all-region list. The sophomore ranks sixth in the country with a 5.46 kills per game average. Houston is also averaging 2.55 digs and 0.71 blocks per game.
Mason is also making her first all-region appearance. She ranks 17th in the country with 0.59 aces per game, while averaging 4.04 kills, 3.02 digs and 0.75 blocks per game.
Sanders, another first time all-region honoree, is UH’s leading hitter, posting a .365 hitting percentage with 2.32 kills and 1.43 blocks per game.
Simpson earned her first all-region honor. The first-team all-WAC honoree is 18th in the nation in hitting percentage (.387). She led the Aggies to their first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Oguh, also a first-team all-WAC selection, earned her second all-Region honor. Oguh, who was only one of three athletes that had previously earned all-region honors, led the team with 175 total blocks. That performance along with her .377 hitting percentage is third on the season-single list.