UH's Houston named to All-America second team; Danielson third team | The Honolulu Advertiser

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UH's Houston named to All-America second team; Danielson third team | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Updated at 7:11 a.m., Wednesday, December 17, 2008

UH's Houston named to All-America second team; Danielson third team

Advertiser Staff

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Jamie Houston

AVCA ALL-AMERICANS

2008 American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Americans

FIRST TEAM

Foluke Akinradewo, Stanford, middle blocker, senior, 6-3, Plantation, Fla.

Cynthia Barboza, Stanford, outside hitter, senior, 6-0, Long Beach, Calif.

Hana Cutura, California, outside hitter, junior, 6-4, Zagreb, Croatia.

Ashley Engle, Texas, right side/opposite, junior, 6-3, Yorba Linda, Calif.

Nicole Fawcett, Penn State, outside hitter, senior, 6-4, Zanesfield, Ohio.

Alisha Glass, Penn State, setter, junior, 6-0, Leland, Mich.

Christa Harmotto, Penn State, middle blocker, senior, 6-2, Aliquippa, Pa.

Megan Hodge, Penn State, outside hitter, junior, 6-3, Durham, N.C.

Destinee Hooker, Texas, outside hitter, junior, 6-4, San Antonio.

Alix Klineman, Stanford, outside hitter, sophomore, 6-4, Manhattan Beach, Calif.

Jordan Larson, Nebraska, outside hitter, senior, 6-2, Hooper, Neb.

Stephanie Lynch, Purdue, middle blocker, senior, 6-3, New Albany, Ind.

Lauren Paolini, Texas, middle blocker, senior, 6-5, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Nellie Spicer, UCLA, setter, senior, 5-10, Barrington, Ill.

SECOND TEAM

Sydney Anderson, Nebraska, setter, sophomore, 6-0, Sandy, Utah.

Blair Brown, Penn State, right side/opposite, sophomore, 6-5, Purcellville, Va.

Laura DeBruler, Illinois, outside hitter, sophomore, 5-10, Downers Grove, Ill.

Brook Dieter, Minnesota, outside hitter, sophomore, 6-1, Bloomington, Minn.

Neticia Enesi, Oregon, middle blocker, junior, 6-1, The Dallas, Ore.

Jamie Houston, Hawaii, outside hitter, senior, 6-1, Huntsville, Ala.

Carli Lloyd, California, setter, sophomore, 5-11, Bonsall, Calif.

Kaylee Manns, Iowa State, setter, junior, 5-10, Topeka, Kan.

Gorana Maricic, Oregon, outside hitter, senior, 6-3, Subotica, Serbia.

Tamari Miyashiro, Washington, defensive specialist/libero, junior, 5-7, Kaneohe, Hawaii.

Tara Mueller, Nebraska, outside hitter, sophomore, 6-0, Scottsdale, Ariz.

Jessica Swarbrick, Washington, middle blocker, senior, 6-1, El Dorado, Calif.

Arielle Wilson, Penn State, middle blocker, sophomore, 6-3, Broadview, Ill.

Lexi Zimmerman, Michigan, setter, sophomore, 5-10, Barrington, Ill.

THIRD TEAM

Lori Baird, Utah, middle blocker, senior, 6-2, Murray, Utah.

Anna Cmaylo, Santa Clara, middle blocker, senior, 6-4, Napa, Calif.

Kanani Danielson, Hawaii, outside hitter, freshman, 5-10, Ewa Beach, Hawaii.

Jeanne Fairchild, New Mexico, outside hitter, senior, 6-1, Albuquerque, N.M.

Jessica Fine, UCLA, defensive specialist/libero, senior, 5-6, Tarzana, Calif.

Lauren Gibbemeyer, Minnesota, middle blocker, sophomore, 6-2, St. Paul, Minn.

Jenna Hagglund, Washington, setter, sophomore, 5-10, West Chester, Ohio.

Danielle Hepburn, Clemson, middle blocker, senior, 6-2, Miami, Fla.

Nataly Korobkova, Kansas State, right side/opposite, senior, 6-3, Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

Ashley Mass, Iowa State, defensive specialist/libero, sophomore, 5-8, Muskego, Wis.

Jana Matiasovska, Louisville, outside hitter, senior, 6-6, Bratislava, Slovakia.

Sammi McCloud, Saint Louis, right side/opposite, junior, 6-2, Columbia, Ill.

Kelly Murphy, Florida, setter/hitter, freshman, 6-2, Wilmington, Ill.

Julie Rubenstein, Pepperdine, outside hitter, senior, 6-3, Camarillo, Calif.

Kanani Danielson

Tamari Miyashiro

University of Hawai'I senior Jamie Houston earned her highest honor in her final year, being named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America second-team today. Freshman teammate Kanani Danielson is on the third team.

The 28th annual AVCA Division I All-America Teams were announced this morning in Omaha, Neb. Awards will be presented Friday at the AVCA All-America/Players of the Year Banquet at Qwest Convention Center, site of this year's women's final four.

There are 14 student-athletes on each of the three AVCA All-America Teams. The first team includes four players from top-ranked Penn State and three each from Texas and Stanford, which ended the Rainbow Wahine's season Saturday in a regional final. Nebraska, the final team in this year's final four, has just one player on the first team.

National Player of the Year will be announced Friday.

Kalani graduate Tamari Miyashiro, a junior at Washington, joins Houston on the second team. Miyashiro was a third-team selection last year.

Houston earned third-team All-America honors as a sophomore. She leaves Hawai'I second on the career kill list behind 2003 national player of the year Kim Willoughby, with 2,061. The Huntsville, Ala., native averaged more than four kills a set her final season and was Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year a second straight season. Last season Houston was second in the country, averaging more than 5 1/2 kills a set.

Houston and Danielson, a three-time state high school player of the year for Kamehameha, were named to the all-region team Saturday. According to UH coach Dave Shoji, Danielson was one of three serious candidates for AVCA national Freshman of the Year, an honor won by Florida setter/hitter Kelly Murphy. In her first year, Danielson's averaged just under three kills and three digs a set, and hit nearly .300.

Stanford middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo, the 2007 national player of the year, and Penn State outside hitter Nicole Fawcett are four-time AVCA All-America honorees, each earning a place on the first team the last three years and second-team distinction in 2005. Stanford's Cynthia Barboza,Penn State's Megan Hodge and UCLA's Nellie Spicer earned their third consecutive first-team honors.

Hawai'I junior Aneli Cubi-Otineru and sophomore Dani Mafua earned All-America honorable mention status, along with Moanalua graduate Lena Yee, a senior libero for St. John's.

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