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LIVINGSTON, Ala. — Three
University of West Alabama
volleyball players earned
All-Gulf South Conference honors
this season, announced Thursday
by the league office in
Birmingham, Ala.
Junior
Allison Nail was named to the
GSC First Team while sophomores
Giuliana De Francesco and Ana
Gabriela Pedrosa were tabbed to
the conference’s second team.
The first team selection of Nail
marks the second consecutive
year the Cullman, Ala.-native
has been selected by the league
coaches as an All-GSC member.
She earned Second Team All-GSC
honors in 2006. Her selection
to the first team is the first
for UWA since Melanie Moffett
was chosen to the 2005 team.
With her second All-GSC
achievement, she becomes the
seventh UWA volleyball player to
be named to the all-league team
multiple times.
Nail
reached the 1,000-career kill
mark last week against West
Florida. She ranks among the
leaders in the GSC in hitting
percentage and kills.
Nationally, she is listed 28th
in kills per game, sporting a
4.45 average. She ranks 52nd
in the NCAA stats (as of Oct.
28) with a .335 hitting clip.
De Francesco has tallied 1,285
assists, sporting a 12.72
average per game mark. Pedrosa,
ranks second on the team in
kills with 325 thru 32 matches.
During the last weekend of the
season, the Belo Horizonte,
Brazil-product posted double
figure kills against Spring Hill
and Valdosta State.
The Tigers
open the 2007 GSC Volleyball
Tournament on Friday, Nov. 10,
against Henderson State at
Noon. All UWA matches will be
broadcast on the flagship
station for UWA Athletics – Y
104.9 FM and on the internet at
athletics.uwa.edu. The Voice of
Tiger Athletics Jason Gardner
will provide the play-by-play
along with Assistant Athletic
Director Janet Montgomery.
UWA closed out the
regular season last weekend on
the road, claiming wins over
Spring Hill College and Valdosta
State. The Red and White
suffered a 3-0 setback to
nationally-ranked West Florida.
Head coach Ron Arenz’s club
finished the regular season with
an overall record of 27-5 and
posted an 8-4 mark in the GSC.
The 27 wins overall and the
eight in conference play are the
most since the 2002 campaign.
This year’s volleyball season
will go down as one of the most
successful ones in the program’s
history - A school record
18-consecutive wins to open the
season; the last team in NCAA
Division II Women’s Volleyball
to lose a match in 2007,
shattered home attendance marks,
averaging over 500 spectators
watching Tiger volleyball at
Pruitt Hall. UWA claimed wins
over in-state rivals Montevallo
and North Alabama. The win over
UM to open the GSC season, was
the Red and White’s first
conference lid-lifter victory
since 2002. The UNA win on the
home floor snapped a 29-match
losing streak and a 69-game
losing streak to the Lions.
The Tigers are making their 17th
appearance in the league
tournament and second since it
went to an eight-team format.
In 2002, UWA dropped a 3-1
decision to Arkansas Tech in the
opening round. UWA has faced
the Lady Reddies of HSU only
once in the post season, falling
to the Red and White in the 2001
GSC Tournament. The two
institutions have only met six
times previously on the
volleyball court with HSU
holding a 6-0 advantage in the
series. The two teams last met
during 2006 in Arkadelphia, Ark.
