Lady Cards Load Up On All Conference Honors :: Abel, Blythe, Meengs and Gibert pick up specialty awards

Nov. 15, 2007

BEAUMONT - After winning a share of their first conference title since the 2001 season, the Lamar University volleyball program dominated the Southland Conference postseason awards with three players earning first team all conference, one being named honorable mention, while also picking up the player of the year, setter of the year, newcomer of the year and coach of the year honors.

Middle blocker Molli Abel, a senior from Friendswood, Texas, was named SLC player of the year and first team all-conference after leading the conference in hitting percentage at .403 in conference play and .379 for the entire season. Her .403 hitting percentage was 28 percentage points higher than the second best player in the conference, and her .379 average ranks 19th in the NCAA this season. Adding to her average of 3.20 kills per game, she was also a key contributor to the Lady Cardinal defense, posting a team-high 106 blocks on the year.

Abel is just the fourth player in the history of the Lamar University volleyball program to earn player of the year honors. She joins Liz Blue, 1982, Ruby Randolph, 1984 and Natalie Sarver, 2002, all of which were honored by the Southland Conference.

Adrianne Meengs, a sophomore from Friendswood, Texas, was named setter of the year and first team all-conference leading the LU offense to the top two of every offensive category. She ranked second in assists in conference play with 11.04 per game, and was third in assist throughout the entire season with 11.11 assists per game.

Throughout the season Meengs overall ability proved to be a key factor for Lamar's success. She posted five triple doubles on the year and ranked sixth among league leaders with a .296 hitting percentage in conference play. Defensively she helped anchor the Lady Cardinals defense with 2.17 digs per game.

Outside hitter Kaci Brewer, Castroville, Texas, joined Abel and Meengs with first team all-SLC honors after a strong sophomore campaign. She finished the season with a team-best 3.21 kills per game and was third on the team in digs with 2.70 per game. Brewer was the only Lady Cardinal to register 20 or more kills in a match this season, doing so on two occasions.

Shalayne Blythe, a junior from Port Neches, Texas, picked up the newcomer of the year award after a strong season as a reserve for the Lady Cardinals. She ranked second on the team with a .325 hitting percentage on the year and finished just behind Abel in conference play at .402. This is the third time in her athletic career that Blythe has been honored by the Southland Conference, earning the 2005 softball pitcher of the year, Freshman of the year, first team all conference and 2006 softball honorable mention at Sam Houston State.

Junior libero Andrea Hamilton, Austin, Texas, picked up honorable mention all-conference honors after leading the Lady Cardinal defense during the season. She ranked fifth in the conference in digs throughout the entire season with 576 and sixth in conference play with 298. Her 576 digs also set a new single season record for Lamar, passing the previous record of 534 set by Miriam Erickson in 1992.

Head coach Justin Gibert was named the Southland Conference coach of the Year after leading LU to their impressive 15-1 finish in league play. He becomes just the third coach in school history to pick up the volleyball coach of the year award, joining Katrinka Jo Crawford who won it in 1983 and Jim Barnes who was honored in 2001.

The No. 1 seeded Lady Cardinals will open the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday at 1:30 p.m. when they take on the No. 8 seed Sam Houston State at the Convocation Center on the Texas-San Antonio campus.