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Four Mountain West Conference Student-Athletes Named to 2004 AVCA All-West Region Team
CSU's Melissa Courtney and Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon honored for second consecutive year
Dec. 8, 2004 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The 2004 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region Teams were announced Tuesday, with four Mountain West athletes being named to the West Region squad. Colorado State setter Melissa Courtney, middle blocker Katie Jo Shirley-Cahoon, and right-side hitter Dre Downs were honored, along with Utah middle blocker Lyndsey Henderson. This season marks the fifth straight that the Mountain West Conference was represented on the AVCA All-Region squad. Since 1999, 23 MWC student-athletes have earned all-region accolades and nine have gone on to All-America status. All four of this year's honorees will advance to the national ballot for All-America consideration, which will be announced on Dec. 15. Courtney, the 2004 MWC Player of the Year and MWC Championship MVP, helped the Rams to their second straight tournament crown and a share of their fifth straight regular-season championship. The Lakewood, Calif., product, led the conference with 13.65 assists per game, which currently ranks 10th in the nation. She is the MWC career leader in assists with 4,566 and was named conference player of the week twice this season. Courtney also ranked fifth in the league in service aces per game (0.30) and was named AVCA National Player of the Week on Nov. 22. This is her second straight AVCA All-Region honor. Cahoon, a 6-0 senior from Hayden, Idaho, led the MWC with a .386 hitting percentage (19th in the nation), and was third in the league in points per game (4.01) and tied for third in blocks per game (1.26). She was named MWC Player of the Week on Nov. 2 and was named to the all-conference team for the third straight year. This is her second consecutive AVCA All-Region honor. Downs, a Clinton, Utah, native, earned her first-career all-region accolade finishing the season fourth in the MWC in hitting percentage (.331). She also compiled an average of 2.93 kills and 0.32 assists per game. She was named MWC Player of the Week on Nov. 15. Henderson, a 6-5 senior from Orem, Utah, led the Utes to a share of the regular-season championship and their fourth straight appearance in the championship match of the MWC Tournament. Her 1.67 blocks per game ranked second in the MWC and is currently eighth nationally. She averaged 3.59 kills per game and hit .322 for the season, checking in at third and fifth in the conference, respectively. Henderson was also tabbed all-Mountain West Conference and conference player of the week on Oct. 18 in addition to her all-region honor.
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