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

February 9, 2007


Collins Named '06 College Volleyball Player of the Year

DANVILLE, Va. – The Virginia Sports Information Directors (VaSID) announced the 2006 Virginia All-State College Division volleyball team Friday.  Those receiving top honors include Christopher Newport University setter Brittany Collins, who was selected as Player of the Year.  Middle hitter Samantha Kirby from Averett University was chosen as the Rookie of the Year, and Washington & Lee University head coach Bryan Snyder was selected Coach of the Year.

2006 VaSID College Division All-State Volleyball Team

Collins, a senior from Richmond, Virginia, was named the USA South Athletic Conference Player of the Year.  She finished the season with a .338 hitting average and was named to the All-South Region First Team.  She tallied 1,216 assists, 370 digs, and 108 service aces on the season.

Kirby, a freshman from Lenoir, North Carolina, tallied a hitting percentage of .409 on the year.  She was named to the USA South Conference first team and was selected as the conference’s rookie of the year.  Kirby also tallied 111 blocks on the season and was named the USA South Rookie of the Week five times on the year.

Snyder finished the year with a 29-8 overall record, and a 10-0 conference record in the ODAC.  He was selected as Coach of the Year in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, and led Washington & Lee to a sixth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance, where they advanced to the Sweet 16.

Joining Collins and Kirby on the first-team are Maggie McDearmon, Christy Renegar, Lauren Edmonson, and Mollee Farrell.  McDearmon is a senior from Randolph-Macon College and tallied 338 kills and 395 digs.  Renegar, a senior from Averett, finished the year with 435 kills and 370 digs.  Edmonson was selected from Washington & Lee with 662 digs and 76 aces.  To complete the first-team, Farrell joined from Randolph-Macon amassed 334 kills with a .353 attack average.

Those selected to the second team include Julia Ralston from Marymount University, Kasey Carpenter from Averett, Jen Perkinson from Virginia Wesleyan College, Liz Bush from Christopher Newport, Mindy Altice from Ferrum College and Erika Dirnagl from Bridgewater College.

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.