Thursday, November 8, 2007

LACY NAMED SAC VOLLEYBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR, ROWLES TABBED SAC SCHOLAR ATHLETE

Vivian Lacy SAC Player of the Year	Alexis Rowles SAC Scholar Athlete	Kelsey Hayden All-SAC 1st Team	Katie Luebke All-SAC 2nd Team	Mariana Rezende All-SAC 2nd Team

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. --- Tusculum College's Vivian Lacy has been named the 2007 South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Player of the Year announced league officials Thursday. Lacy was one of five Tusculum players honored at the SAC Volleyball Awards Banquet on the campus of Carson-Newman College, host of the Food Lion SAC Tournament.

Lacy was named to the All-SAC First Team, while Kelsey Hayden, Katie Luebke and Mariana Rezende earned Second Team honors. Senior libero Alexis Rowles was named the SAC Scholar Athlete for Volleyball.

Lacy, a 5-7 outside hitter from Palm Bay, Fla., becomes the first player in school history to earn SAC Volleyball Player of the Year honors. She leads the team averaging 4.73 kills per game, which are ninth in NCAA Division II. She has also posted a .291 hitting percentage, while averaging 2.69 digs and 0.61 blocks per game. Earlier this season, she was named the AVCA Division II National Player of the Week and has been selected SAC Player of the Week on two occasions. Lacy earns All-SAC First Team honors for a second straight year.

Hayden, a 6-2 junior middle blocker from Colorado Springs, Colo., finished second in the conference in blocking, averaging 1.52 per contest, which is currently sixth in the nation. She has a .299 hitting percentage, while averaging 2.46 kills per game.

Luebke, a 6-2 freshman outside hitter from Bellefontaine, Ohio, leads the squad in hitting percentage (.301) while posting 3.32 kills and 0.75 blocks per game. Luebke was also named to the SAC All-Freshman Team.

Rezende, a 5-7 senior setter from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, leads the Pioneers in assists dishing out 11.46 per game. Playing in her first and only season at Tusculum, Rezende has a .317 hitting percentage while adding 1.79 digs and 36 service aces per game this year.

Rowles, a 5-4 senior from Simpsonville, S.C., becomes the second Tusculum volleyball player to earn the SAC Scholar Athlete Award (Sierra Harlacher in 2000). Rowles ranks fourth in the conference in digs per game (4.53 dpg) and was a second-team All-Conference selection in 2006. She is Tusculum's career leader in digs and played a big part in Tusculum's second place finish in the conference standings, TC's best SAC showing ever.

In the classroom, Rowles has a 3.97 GPA as an Elementary Education major. She is a trustee scholarship recipient and was named Tusculum's Academic Freshman of the Year in 2005. She is a member of Alpha Chi national honor society. Earlier on Thursday, she was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District IV First Team.

On campus and in the community, she has traveled to India with other college professors and students to deliver school supplies and books to youth in India. She took part in a church mission trip to Chicago to work a vacation Bible School in an inner city church. She has participated in Salkehatchie Summer Service, which helps rebuild homes for disadvantaged people. She also serves as a tutor on campus and has participated in campus projects, including cleaning up a local graveyard and raising money for the Susan G. Kormen Breast Cancer Fund.

Tusculum (25-9) is the No. 2 seed in this year's tournament and the Pioneers will face host and No. 7 seed Carson-Newman on Friday at 3:30 p.m. TC is riding a four-match winning streak and has won six of its last seven outings.

- SAC -

2007 All-South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Team

ALL-SAC FIRST TEAM
Melissa Powers, Cata!wba
Katie Novacek, Lenoir-Rhyne
Catherine Fulton, Lenoir-Rhyne (Libero)
Priscila Sales, Newberry
Vivian Lacy, Tusculum
Rebecca Bloemer, Wingate
Melissa DeLuca, Wingate
Stormi Gale, Wingate

ALL-SAC SECOND TEAM
Nikki Bozick, Catawba (Libero)
Andi Henderson, Catawba
Melissa Griffith, Catawba
Amanda Horenkamp, Lincoln Memorial
Kelsey Hayden, Tusculum
Katie Luebke, Tusculum
Mariana Rezende, Tusculum
Kathryn Reddick, Wingate

SAC ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Nikki James, Carson-Newman
Caroline Albertelli, Lenoir-Rhyne
Katie Luebke, Tusculum
Rebecca Bloemer, Wingate
Stormi Gale, Wingate
Heather Myklebust, Wingate

SAC COACH OF THE YEAR: Shelton Collier, Wingate
SAC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Stormi Gale, Wingate
SAC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Vivian Lacy, Tusculum
SAC SCHOLAR-ATHLETE: Alexis Rowles, Tusculum