Holmes Named West Region Player of Year, CMS Volleyball Places Six on All-Region Teams

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The undefeated and top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team placed six players on the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-West Region team, the organization announced at the start of the NCAA Championships.

Holmes was joined on the first team by right-side hitter Brenna Bell, libero Dede Carranza and setter Georgia McGovern. Right-side hitter Summer Ellis earned a spot on the second team, while Kurt Vlasich was named the West Region Coach of the Year. 

Holmes leads the Athenas by a wide margin in kills with 313 on the year, while also adding 283 digs. She was named the AVCA National Player of the Week, following a 3-0 week for CMS at the East-West Battle at Emory, with wins over Johns Hopkins, Trinity and the host Eagles. She has 12 double-doubles on the year, including all three postseason matches so far, 13 kills and 10 digs against La Verne in the SCIAC Semifinals, 10 kills and 13 digs against Pomona-Pitzer in the SCIAC Finals and 10 kills and 10 digs against Fontbonne in the NCAA Tournament opener yesterday.

Bell continued her efficient fall season with eight kills in 10 attempts against Fontbonne, raising her percentage to .414 on the year, moving her up to sixth in the country (the only other non-middle in the top 20 is Ellis, who places 15th). She had a season-high 16 kills in 23 attempts in a win at Emory, and was dominant in three matches with Pomona-Pitzer (10 kills in 15 attempts, 10 kills in 16 attempts, and eight kills in 17 attempts).

Carranza was the SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year and heads into the regional semifinals tonight with 416 digs (4.57 per set) this fall. She leads CMS with 47 service aces, and has 308 service receptions and only eight errors. She has added 91 assists as well to the offensive attack.

McGovern has been part of a two-setter system that has led CMS to by far the top hitting percentage in the country (.316, which is 38 points higher than second-place Northwestern). She has 623 assists on the year (6.85 per set) and has added 171 digs and 40 service aces. The one time she played six rotations (at Redlands) she also had seven kills in 11 attempts. 

Sawyer set a school record in hitting percentage last year at .381 and is poised to break it this year at .397 (although so is Bell at .414 and Ellis at .393, so it remains to be seen how the list finishes). She has also added 94 blocks, which ranks first on the team by a wide margin, and has had kills in almost half of her attempts (160 out of 325). 

Ellis would probably be a first-team selection for any other team, but she happens to play the same position as Bell. She is hitting .393 with 140 kills in 295 attempts, and joins Bell in the exclusive All-Athena club of outside hitters in the top 20 in the country in hitting. She had a season-high 12 kills in 17 attempts against UC Santa Cruz and hit 8-for-10 in a win over Whittier. 

The Athenas who were honored will next move on the All-America ballot, which will be announced next week at nationals. CMS stands two weeks away from being at nationals themselves, needing to beat UT Dallas tonight at 7 p.m., and then the winner of the Trinity-Chicago semifinal in the finals tomorrow at 5 p.m.