Three Huskies, Coach Cook Earn Region Honors
December 09, 2015 | Volleyball
SEATTLE – Three Huskies were honored with All-Region Team selections today, and first year head coach Keegan Cook picked up a big honor as he was named the Pacific North Region Coach of the Year, it was announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). Seniors Cassie Strickland and Lianna Sybeldon earned spots on the 14-player All-Region Team, with sophomore Tia Scambray picking up honorable mention.
The AVCA All-Region honors are the precursor to being eligible for All-America awards. Sybeldon was a Third Team All-American last season and earns her second straight All-Region honor, while Strickland and Scambray earned their first recognition.
Last week, both Strickland and Sybeldon were also voted to the All-Pac-12 Team, with Scambray earning honorable mention on that list as well.
Strickland recently broke the UW record for career sets played, as she has now appeared in 453 sets. Her 1,520 career digs are fourth in school history and her 148 aces are second in school history. In her second season as the Husky libero, the senior upped her digs per set to 4.33 from 3.96 last year. Her passing helped limit UW to just 75 reception errors, fewest in the Pac-12, and her defense helped the Dawgs hold opponents to a .146 attack percentage, lowest for any team in the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, or ACC.
Sybeldon leads the NCAA with a .465 attack percentage and led the Pac-12 in conference play with 1.46 blocks per set. The Folsom, Calif. native is third in Washington history and first in the rally scoring era with 531 career blocks. She upped her production in a big way even over an All-American 2014 season, as she has averaged 2.55 kills per set this year after averaging 1.76 a year ago.
Scambray upped her production across the board in her second season. She leads the Huskies with 287 kills, averaging 2.71 per set, up from 2.32 as a freshman. Scambray ranks second in the Pac-12 in aces per set with 0.35, and she leads UW with eight double-doubles. The Dana Point, Calif. product also had new career-highs with 2.39 digs per set and 0.63 blocks per set, and raised her attack percentage to .236 this season.
Cook took the reins of the program in January after serving two years as an assistant coach at Washington and leading UW's beach volleyball team through its inaugural season. The Huskies did not skip a beat, capturing a share of the Pac-12 title with a third straight 18-2 conference record, and advancing to the NCAA tournament for the 14th year in a row. The Dawgs are the No. 5 seed in the tourney, and are off to the regional rounds this weekend in Lexington, Ky. where they will face No. 12-seed Ohio State on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Pacific. At 30-2 for the year, UW has now won 30 matches for an unprecedented three-straight seasons, all with Cook as part of the staff.
AVCA All-Pacific North Region
|
First Name |
Last Name |
School |
Pos. |
Year |
|
Savannah |
Blinn |
Gonzaga |
RS |
SR |
|
Madi |
Bugg*** |
Stanford |
S |
SR |
|
Adrianna |
Culbert*** |
Colorado State |
S/RS |
SR |
|
Nikki |
Hess |
Santa Clara |
OH |
JR |
|
Hayley |
Hodson |
Stanford |
RS |
FR |
|
Brittany |
Howard |
Stanford |
OH |
SR |
|
Merete |
Lutz** |
Stanford |
MB |
RS-SO |
|
Olivia |
Magill*** |
Hawai'i |
MB |
SR |
|
Sierra |
Nobley |
Boise State |
OH |
SO |
|
Danielle |
Rottman |
Santa Clara |
L |
SR |
|
Cassie |
Strickland |
Washington |
L |
SR |
|
Lianna |
Sybeldon** |
Washington |
MB |
SR |
|
Nikki |
Taylor |
Hawai'i |
RS |
JR |
|
Janae |
Vander Ploeg |
Northern Arizona |
OH |
SR |
Honorable Mention
|
First Name |
Last Name |
School |
Pos. |
Year |
|
Acacia |
Andrews |
Colorado State |
MB |
RS-JR |
|
Sarah |
Baugh |
Boise State |
S |
SR |
|
Lauren |
Kissell |
Sacramento State |
OH |
SR |
|
Kirsten |
Mead |
Santa Clara |
S |
SO |
|
Tia |
Scambray |
Washington |
OH |
SO |
|
Lillian |
Schonewise |
California - Berkeley |
MB |
RS-SR |
Freshman of the Year: Hayley Hodson, Stanford, RS
Coach of the Year: Keegan Cook, Washington
