Nov. 12, 2007

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University libero Courtney Schneider (Sr., Snohomish) was voted Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year, being a unanimous choice to the first team, and the Vikings' Diane Flick was named Coach of the Year on the league's all-star team announced today.

Schneider becomes the first player in league history to be either a first or second-team pick four times. This is the third straight year that she has earned first-team honors, one of just five players to accomplish that, after being a second-team choice in 2004 when she received Freshman of the Year accolades.

It was the fifth coaching award for Flick, who is completing her eighth season. She has a .787 winning percentage with a record of 170-46. Flick, who also was honored in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2006, has a 112-12 conference record in seven GNAC campaigns.

Western finished the regular season with a 21-4 record, winning its last 16 matches, and took the GNAC title with a 17-1 mark. The Vikings earned the No.2 seed at the NCAA Pacific Regional, which begins Thursday, and are ranked No.24 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25 Poll.

Schneider is on her way to being the NCAA Division II national leader in digs per game for the second straight year. Her 7.70 average is on pace to break the national record she set last season, and her 678 total digs broke the school and GNAC mark of 666 that she established in 2006.

Schneider has had 20 or more digs 22 times this season, breaking her own GNAC record, and ranks sixth among NCAA II career leaders with 2,522. Her career average of 6.95 will shatter the national record.

Two other Vikings, besides Schneider, named first-team GNAC all-stars were middle blocker Tiana Roma (Jr., Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway), who leads the league in attack percentage at .376, and setter Katie Robinson (Sr., Everson/Nooksack Valley), who paces the conference in assists at 11.95 and is sixth in service aces at 0.50.

Roma and Robinson were second-team picks last year, Roma also earning honorable mention in 2005.

Western placed outside hitter Jaime Anderson (Sr., SeaTac/Mount Rainier) on the second team. Anderson is third among GNAC leaders in kills with a 4.03 average.

Two Vikings received honorable mention - middle blocker Angie Alvord (Jr., Laurel/Meridian) and outside hitter Emily Castro (Sr., Bellingham/Meridian). Alvord ranks second in the GNAC in blocks (1.35), third in aces (0.68), and fourth in hitting percentage (.322). Castro was second on the team in both kills (3.41) and digs (3.30).

Two former Western players, setter Liz Bishop (2001-03) and middle blocker Meghan Evoy (2002-04), were among the previous four GNAC players to earn first-team all-star recognition three times. The other was Central Washington's LeAnne McGahuey (2003-05) and Seattle Pacific's Alyssa Given (2005-07).

GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE

Volleyball: Schneider, Flick Voted Top Player, Coach in GNAC

SPOKANE, WA - Western Washington libero Courtney Schneider, who ranks among the all-time dig leaders in NCAA Division II history, has been selected the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Player-of-the-Year.

Viking coach Diane Flick, who guided WWU to a 21-4 record and its fourth GNAC title in seven years, was selected the GNAC Coach-of-the-Year for the fifth time.

Schneider (Sr., Snohomish, WA) finished the regular-season with a school and GNAC record 678 digs breaking her own previous record of 666. She ranks sixth in NCAA Division II history with 2,522 digs and her 6.95 per game average is on pace to destroy the current national record of 6.06.

Flick, a 1993 graduate of the University of Washington, edged Western Oregon coach Joe Houck 5-4 in the balloting for Coach-of-the-Year honors. Flick, who also earned the award in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2006, has a career record of 170-46 in eight seasons, including a 112-12 conference record in seven GNAC campaigns.

Houck directed a remarkable turnaround this fall at Western Oregon leading the Wolves to a 16-9 record and to their first winning season in GNAC history. The Wolves had a 9 ½ match improvement over a year ago when WOU posted a 7-19 record.

Also winning special awards were Western Oregon outside hitter Kayla Mainer and setters Jamie Mellies of Seattle University and Joelle Perez of Seattle Pacific.

Mainer, a graduate of West Valley High School in Spokane and a transfer from North Idaho, finished the regular-season ranked fourth in the conference in kills per game (4.03) sixth in points (4.67) and digs (4.24) and seventh in aces (0.47), to win GNAC Newcomer-of-the-Year honors.

Perez from Heritage High School in Vancouver, Wash., and Mellies from Silverado High School in Henderson, Nev., finished fourth (11.07) and fifth (10.62), respectively, in the conference in assists and tied in the balloting for GNAC Freshman-of-the-Year honors, each receiving four first-place votes, two seconds and a third.

Schneider, who is averaging 7.70 digs and is on pace to win her second consecutive national dig title, and Seattle Pacific outside hitter Alyssa Given (Sr., Salinas, CA) headed up the seven-woman GNAC first team all-conference team. Both players were unanimous selections and became the fourth and fifth players in GNAC history to earn first-team honors three times.

Given led the GNAC in kills (4.56) this season and finished her career as the second-leading kill (1,454) and point (1,723) producer in GNAC history. She also finished her career ranked first in conference history in kill attempts (4,041) and aces (188) and third in kills per game (3.96).

Northwest Nazarene middle blocker Cammy Dranginis (So., Nampa, ID) was also a repeat first-team selection. Joining Schneider, Given and Dranginis on the first team were Mainer, Central Washington middle blocker Rachael Schurman (Jr., Spokane, WA), Western Washington middle blocker Tiana Roma (Jr., Edmonds, WA) and Viking setter Katie Robinson (Sr., Everson, WA).

Western Washington, which is the No. 2 seed in this week's NCAA Division II Pacific Regional at San Bernardino, placed a total of six players on the all-star team. Joining the three first-team selections were outside hitter Jaime Anderson (Sr., SeaTac, WA) on the second team. Outside hitter Emily Castro (Sr., Bellingham, WA) and middle blocker Angie Alvord (Jr., Laurel, WA) were honorable mention selections.

The Vikings will be making their fifth post-season appearance in the seven-year history of the GNAC. Northwest Nazarene and Western Oregon, which are the sixth and eighth seeds, respectively, will be making their first-ever NCAA post-season volleyball appearances.

2007 GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL ALL-STAR TEAM

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