FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Chris Poore, William & Mary
(757) 221-3370

December 16, 2005


Kirkwood, Finley Headline '05 University Division All-State Volleyball Team

WILLIAMSBURG, VA (December 16, 2005)- Virginia sophomore outside hitter Sarah Kirkwood and Virginia Commonwealth head coach James Finley were named the 2005 Virginia Sports Information Directors University Division State Volleyball Player and Coach of the Year, respectively, according to a vote of the sports information staffs from schools around the state of Virginia.

2005 VaSID University Division Volleyball All-State Team

Kirkwood earned her second-straight state Player of the Year honor after earning first-team All Atlantic Coast Conference honors. She finished the year with 531 kills, 271 digs, 69 service aces and 59 total blocks. She is the first player in Atlantic Coast Conference history to record at least 1,000 kills as a sophomore, and her 69 service aces is the third-highest total in school history. She finished with 13 double doubles and has a streak of 30 consecutive matches with double figure kills. She also earned second-team Academic All-America honors by ESPN The Magazine.

Finley was named the state’s top coach in his first season at Virginia Commonwealth University after guiding the Rams to the second largest turnaround in the nation. VCU went from a 6-21 record in 2004 to a 22-12 mark in 2005, as Finley guided his team to its first Colonial Athletic Association championship and its first NCAA Tournament appearance.

Players from six different schools were represented on the all-state teams as three players from the College of William and Mary were named to the first team, joining athletes from the University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University. The Tribe’s Caitlin Geraghty, Kathleen Hawley and Kim Mount were named to the first team, along with Ludmilla Francescatto of Virginia Commonwealth and Emily and Sarah Kirkwood of Virginia.

Five different schools were represented on the second team. Melissa Caldwell and Katie Oakes of the University of Virginia were selected, along with Allyson Halls of James Madison University, Chavanca Hoskins of Hampton University, Melissa Markowski of Virginia Tech and Melissa Peterson of Virginia Commonwealth.

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.

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