FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sam Ferguson, Averett
(434) 791-5876

January 12, 2006


Gladysz, Sheppard Top All-State Volleyball Selections

DANVILLE, Va. – The Virginia Sports Information Directors selected Washington & Lee University’s Christine Gladysz as the 2005 College Division State Volleyball Player of the Year Thursday, while Christopher Newport University’s Lindsay Sheppard was honored as State Coach of the Year.

2005 VaSID College Division Volleyball All-State Team

Gladysz, a senior from Palm Harbor, FL, set 1,346 assists and served up 64 aces in earning the award.  Additionally, she was named to the AVCA All-America Second Team, was selected as the ODAC Player of the Year, and was also named the ODAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.  Gladysz holds the school record for career aces at W&L with 254 and ranks second all-time with 1,542 career digs.  The Generals posted a 32-5 overall record and earned its fifth straight NCAA Tournament berth.  It was Gladysz’s second consecutive season earning state player of the year honors.

Sheppard was selected Coach of the Year after leading the CNU Captains to an overall record of 32-6, including a 13-1 USA South Athletic Conference mark.  Her team won the USA South Tournament and advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Trinity in five games.  She was selected as Co-Coach of the Year by VaSID in 2004.

Joining Gladysz on the first team was W&L teammate Susan Gaillard (Charleston, SC), who was an honorable mention to the AVCA All-America Team.  She tallied 316 kills and hit for a .407 clip in 2005.  Averett’s Courtney Peters (Henrico, NC) was also named to the first team.  Peters tallied 401 kills, 100 blocks, and hit .479 on the season to earn her third consecutive first team nod.  She was also once named the AVCA National Player of the Week.  Randolph-Macon’s Mollee Farrell (Virginia Beach, VA) and teammate Maggie McDearmon (Amherst, VA) were the lone juniors selected to the first team.  Farrell tallied a hitting percentage of .400, while earning first team All-ODAC honors, while McDearmon accounted for 321 kills and 430 digs and was also an All-ODAC first teamer.  Bridgewater’s Heather St. Clair (New Castle, VA) rounds out the first team.  St. Clair swung for a percentage of .376, while tallying 3.5 kills per game.  She was also a first team All-ODAC performer in 2005.

The All-State second team consists of Kelly Hueber (Grapevine, TX) from Mary Washington, CNU’s Amber Bradshaw (Chesapeake, VA) and Brittany Collins (Richmond, VA), Bea Livioco (Montgomery Village, MD) from Marymount, Virginia Wesleyan’s Jen Perkinson (Chesapeake, VA), and Laura Maurer (Sparta, NJ) from W&L.

All-State teams are selected by active members of the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association.  For more information, please visit the VaSID site at http://www.ferrum.edu/athletics/vasid.

# # #