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Six Mountain West Conference Volleyball Student-Athletes Named to 2007 AVCA All-America Team
Dec. 13, 2007 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The 2007 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Teams were announced Wednesday, December 12, with six Mountain West student-athletes earning accolades. BYU senior outside hitter Chelsea Goodman and Colorado State junior middle blocker Mekana Barnes earned third-team All-American honors, while BYU's Rachel Dyer (Jr., MB), Colorado State's Ashley Fornstrom (Jr., S) and Jaime Strauss (Jr., OH), and UNLV's Lauren Miramontes (Sr., MB) nabbed honorable mention All-American acclaim. Since 1999, 13 student-athletes have garnered All-America status, while an additional 14 have been honorable mention All-Americans.Goodman, a three-time All-Mountain West Conference selection, ended the 2007 season ranked second in the MWC in points per game (5.17), while also ranking fourth in both kills (4.45) and aces (0.34) per game. Goodman also finishes her career as the MWC's all-time leader in career double-doubles with 57. The Mesa, Ariz., native, led BYU to a 24-8 record and the Conference's first Elite Eight berth in 2007 to earn her first AVCA All-American honor. Barnes, the 2007 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, is among the nation's best in blocks per game (1.65) and hitting percentage (.401), while also fourth in the MWC in points (5.09) and eighth in kills per game (3.93). Barnes set a new MWC all-time record in total blocks with 19.0 on Sept. 21 and was honored as the MWC Player of the Week four times this season. Barnes was also one of two Conference players to be named AVCA Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week in 2007. A two-time All-MWC selection, Barnes has earned her first AVCA All-American recognition. Dyer, an Encinitas, Calif., native, led the MWC in hitting percentage (.411) and finished fifth in blocks per game (1.31), while ranking ninth in points per game (4.22). She is a two-time all-conference selection and was voted as the MWC Player of the Week on Nov. 5. Fornstrom, a Cheyenne, Wyo., native, earned her first all-region selection after ranking first in the MWC with 13.72 assists per game in overall matches. In conference matches, she tallied 788 total assists (14.55 per game) which surpassed her previous career season-best of 760, set in 2006, as the all-time high in MWC history. Fornstrom was named MWC Player of the Week on Oct. 22, and is one of two current Conference players to have more than one triple-double for their career. Strauss, an all-conference selection and MWC Player of the Week honoree in 2007, ranked second in the league in kills (4.81) and points (5.35) per game in conference matches. In overall matches, finished fifth in kills per game and (4.21) and sixth in points per game (4.85).
Miramontes was the 2007 MWC Tournament MVP after leading UNLV to its first-ever tournament championship. On the season, she averaged 4.65 kills per game (tied for first in the Conference), while leading UNLV in total kills (521), hitting percentage (.296), total blocks (132) and blocks per game (1.18). Miramontes was awarded league player of the week accolades four times this season and was named both Sports Imports/AVCA Divison I National Player of the Week and CVU.com National Player of the Week on Nov. 26, marking the first time in the history of the MWC that a player has garnered both national awards in the same week.
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