LEXINGTON, Ken. -- Six WAC volleyball players were selected to the 2010 All-West Regional team, announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Dani Mafua, Kanani Danielson, and Brittany Hewitt of Hawai‘i were selected to the team. New Mexico State's Jennah DeVries and Utah State's Liz McArthur were also named to the West Region team. New Mexico State's Kayleigh Giddens received honorable mention all-regional honors.
Mafua was selected to the team for the third straight year after averaging 11.19 assists per set. She directed the Rainbow Wahine to a team hitting percentage of .284, which ranked in the Top 20 nationally. Mafua finished her UH career ranked fifth all-time with 3,708 assists.
Danielson, a first-team All-American last year and third-team All-American in 2008, was named to the All-West Region for the second straight year. She led the team and ranks 10th nationally with 4.59 kills per set. She is a two-time Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year and earlier this year became the 17th Rainbow Wahine to record 1,000 career kills.
Hewitt is the nation’s leader in blocking at 1.68 blocks per set. The first-team all-WAC pick also averaged 2.30 kills per set and hit .365. An imposing presence in the middle, Hewitt broke two rally-scoring records this season with 16 blocks against San Diego and hitting .917 with 11 kills on just 12 attempts against New Mexico State.
DeVries earned the honors for the second consecutive year as she led the Aggies and was second in the Western Athletic Conference with 11.06 assists per set. DeVries continues to impress everyone and continues to move up the record's ladder with 2,833 assists in her career.
Giddens led the WAC and is currently fifth in the nation in kills per after averaging 4.84 per set. She also led the WAC in points per set with 5.33 on the year, which ranks her sixth nationally. Giddens finished her career with two first-team All-WAC selections (2009-10), two WAC all-tournament selections, a 2010 Preseason All-WAC selection, and five WAC Player of the Week honors.
Along with being named to the AVCA West Region first-team in 2010, McArthur was also named the Most Valuable Player of the WAC Tournament, a first-team all-WAC honoree, and received Academic All-District VIII third-team honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). McArthur finished the season ranking first in the league in service aces per set (0.33), third in kills per set (4.00) and third in points per set (4.59). Nationally, she finished the season ranking 32nd in points and 34th in kills.
Thos named to the all-regional team are now eligible for All-America honors which will be announced next week during the AVCA Convention.
2010 AVCA Division I West Region Team
Kanani Danielson, Hawai'i, OH, Jr.
Jennah DeVries, New Mexico State, S, Jr.
Brittany Hewitt, Hawai'i, MB, So.
Jennifer Keddy, Cal Poly, MB, So.
Caitlin Ledoux, Long Beach State, OH, Jr.
Dani Mafua, Hawai'i, S, Sr.
Liz McArthur, Utah State, OH, Jr.
Lisa Meeter, New Mexico, OH, Sr.
Jade Michaelsen, New Mexico, S, Sr.
Danielle Minch, Colorado State, OH, Sr.
Meghan Plourde, Colorado State, MB, So.
Erin Saddler, Cal State Fullerton, OH, Sr.
Stacey Schmidt, UC Santa Barbara, RS, Jr.
Dana Vargas, UC Santa Barbara, S, Sr.
2010 AVCA Division I West Region Honorable Mention: Karolina Bartkowiak, Utah, RS, Sr. Cami Croteau, Cal State Fullerton, DS, Sr. Svenja Engelhardt, Pacific, OH, Sr. Kayleigh Giddens, New Mexico State, OH, Sr. Kristina Graven, Cal Poly, OH, Fr. Taylor Hadfield, New Mexico, MB, Sr.