Nov. 26, 2001

Two Members of Bulldog Volleyball Team Earn All-America; Wang Named South Central Region Coach of the Year

Two members of the Truman State University women's volleyball team were named to the All-America team, as selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), on Friday. Additionally, first-year head coach Qi Wang (pronounced Chee Wong) was named the South Central Region's Coach of the Year and will be considered for national coach of the year accolades.

Senior middle hitter Cassy Felkerson (Salem, Mo.) was picked as a first-team All-America, while senior middle hitter Eliza Hoerner (Augusta, Mo./Washington, Univ. of Colorado-Colorado Springs) was tabbed for the second team.

Felkerson and Hoerner become the first Bulldogs in school history to be honored as All-Americas on the AVCA squad.

Under the guidance of Wang, Truman has a 37-1 record, a No. 2 national ranking and a berth in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the first time in school history. Wang is in his first year as the team's head coach, after serving as the team's assistant coach the previous four years. The 'Dogs' 37-1 record is the best in school history, as was their 16-0 mark in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, a record that allowed the team to collect its second straight conference championship, but first outright.

Felkerson currently leads the Bulldogs in kills (3.58 per game), hitting percentage (.325) and blocks (1.08 pg). She has already received several honors this season, including MIAA Most Valuable Player, first-team all-conference, first-team Verizon Academic All-District and AVCA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week. In the latest MIAA stats, Felkerson was the MIAA leader in hitting percentage and also was sixth in the league in kills and blocks.

Hoerner was a four-time MIAA Hitter of the Week and was also picked for first-team all-conference honors for the second consecutive year. This year, she is second on the team in kills (3.36 pg) and blocks (0.78 pg) and is tied for the team lead in service aces (0.48 pg). She ranked second in the MIAA in hitting (.303), second in aces and ninth in kills.

Five Bulldogs were named to the AVCA All-South Central Region squad earlier last week, including Felkerson and Hoerner. Senior outside hitter Jenny Glenn (Granby, Colo./Middle Park) and junior setter Monica Marlowe (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) were also picked for the all-region team, while freshman outside hitter Jessica Sears (Colchester, Ill.) was tabbed the region's freshman of the year. It marks the second time in the careers of Hoerner and Marlowe that they've been named to the all-region team, as Hoerner received the honor last year, while Marlowe was freshman of the year in 1999. Glenn and Felkerson were both first-time honorees on the all-region team.

The MIAA and South Central Region champion Bulldogs are scheduled to play at 4 p.m. (CST) on Thursday (Nov. 29) versus South Dakota State in their opening game of the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Women's Volleyball Championship. The tournament will be held Nov. 29-Dec. 1 in Allendale, Mich., on the campus of Grand Valley State University.

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