2010 SAC Volleyball All-Conference Team And Award Winners Announced

ROCK HILL, S.C. – Wingate University’s Stormi Gale, who led the league in hitting percentage and helped the Bulldogs to a fourth straight undefeated season in conference play and fifth straight conference championship, was named the South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Player of the Year for the second year in a row, the league announced Thursday.

Wingate coach Shelton Collier was named Coach of the Year for the fourth year in a row, and shared the honor with Tusculum coach Michael Robinson, who guided the Pioneers to a second-place finish. Robinson wins for the first time in his career.

Tusculum College setter Ashley Sarmiento, who led the conference with 10.37 assists per set, was named the Freshman of the Year.

Anderson University senior outside hitter Jamie Lancaster received the Scholar-Athlete Award for volleyball.

Gale, a senior middle blocker from Richmond, Texas (Fort Bend Austin HS), topped the conference with a .389 hitting percentage and was fourth in kills per set and third in blocks. She becomes the second person in league history to win the Player of the Year award twice, joining Pam Deanhardt from Presbyterian College, who won in 1990 and 1991.

She was one of three Wingate players named to the All-Conference team. Joining Gale on the first team is senior outside hitter Lauren Billo, who repeats as a first-team selection. Junior setter Liz Willis was named to the second team.

Tusculum had a league-high four on the All-Conference team. Sarmiento, the Freshman of the Year, is joined on the first team by sophomore middle blocker Alyssa Raterman, who was second in the league in hitting percentage, and freshman libero Caitlyn Dean, who led the conference in digs per set. Sophomore outside hitter Samantha Underwood was named to the second team.

Lincoln Memorial University placed three on the All-Conference team. Senior right-side hitter and setter Lauren Kiwacka was named to the first team, while senior outside hitter Ashley Knight and freshman right-side hitter Kaitlin Walton were named to the second team.

Carson-Newman placed two on the All-Conference team. Senior outside hitter Carly Mozgai, who led the conference in kills per set, was named to the first team. Junior middle hitter Nikki James, who led the conference in blocks per set, was named to the second team.

Anderson’s Lancaster rounds out the first-team selections.

Catawba College sophomore right-side hitter Kaitlyn Whitmer, the 2009 Freshman of the Year, was named to the second team.

Mars Hill College freshman Maggie Murphy, who was second in the conference with 6.31 digs per set, was also named to the second team.

Newberry freshman outside hitter Samantha Parrish, who was third in the league in kills, rounds out the All-Conference second team.

Joining Sarmiento on the All-Freshman team are Walton, Parrish, Dean and Wingate middle blocker/outside hitter Anna Hilton and Wingate outside hitter Cory McGowan.

The All-Conference and All-Freshman teams are selected by the league’s head coaches.

Anderson’s Lancaster is a senior outside hitter with a 4.0 grade point average, majoring in Kinesiology.

This season, she averaged 3.82 kills per set, second-best in the conference, and ranked in the top 10 in hitting percentage and digs. She became the school’s all-time leader in kills this season and she was named first-team All-Conference. Last season, she was a first-team Daktronics All-Southeast Region selection.

Lancaster was named the Conference Carolinas student-athlete of the year after last season, as well as the Anderson University student-athlete of the year. She is the recipient of the 2009 Sterling L. Smith Scholarship, presented to only one student out of all private colleges in South Carolina. She also earned ESPN second-team Academic All-America honors last year.

Lancaster has been very active in community and campus service activities, including helping to found the Kinesiology Club, where she serves as treasurer. She also is active with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Science Club, and devotes time to her church. Jamie has served the local community through organizations such as Anderson Interfaith Ministries, Feed the Homeless, Girl Scouts of America, and went on a mission trip to Costa Rica with her team.

The conference awards will be presented Friday after the second of four quarterfinal matches during the opening day of the Food Lion SAC Volleyball Tournament. The tournament will be played at Catawba College in Salisbury, N.C.

Admission to the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Volleyball Tournament is $5 per day for adults and $2 for college students and children 13 and under. Fans showing their Food Lion MVP card can save $1 off the adult admission price.