Barnes named MWC Player of the Year

Nov. 21, 2007

LAS VEGAS, Nev. - The Mountain West All-Conference Volleyball awards as selected by the league's nine head coaches were announced today in conjunction with the Mountain West Conference Volleyball Championship in Las Vegas, Nev. The quarterfinal round begins tomorrow, Thursday, November 22, and runs through Saturday, November 24, at Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus.

Colorado State junior Mekana Barnes was named Player of the Year, while New Mexico's Lisa Meeter was voted Freshman of the Year, and Colorado State's Tom Hilbert and UNLV's Allison Keeley were voted MWC Co-Coaches of the Year.

Barnes, a native of Highlands Ranch, Colo., earned her first player of the year honor after leading the Rams to their fifth outright MWC regular-season title. Barnes finished the regular-season leading the league in blocks per game in overall and conference matches, second in hitting percentage in overall and conference matches, fourth in points per game in conference matches (sixth in overall matches) and eighth in kills per game in overall and conference matches. She set a new MWC all-time record in total blocks with 19.0 at Utah on September 21 and has been honored as the MWC Player of the Week four times this season. Barnes also became the sixth Conference player and first since the 2004 season to be named AVCA Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week on September 4.

Meeter, an outside hitter from Colorado Springs, Colo., earned MWC Freshman of the Year accolades after tallying the Conference's highest freshman ranking in kills per game in conference matches (3.74) and points per game in league play (4.22). She also finished the regular-season ranked third in service aces per game for overall matches (0.35). Meeter has tallied double-figure kills in 20 of 28 matches played and averages 3.30 kills and 2.89 digs per game.

Hilbert was named MWC Coach of the Year for the fifth time in his career. He led the 20th-ranked Rams to a 13-3 conference mark (21-6 overall), as Colorado State collected its fifth outright MWC regular-season crown and sixth conference title overall. Hilbert has also led the Rams to their 13th consecutive 20-plus win season.

Keeley was named MWC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. She led the Rebels to their highest finish as members of the MWC (tied for second) with a 12-4 conference record. Keeley also guided UNLV to its highest overall win total since 1998 and the most league wins since 1979.

Colorado State and UNLV both had four student-athletes named to this year's all-conference team, while BYU had three student-athletes honored. New Mexico, San Diego State, TCU, Utah and Wyoming all had one student-athlete on the all-conference team Nine seniors and seven juniors made up the 16-member all-conference squad.

BYU's Rachel Dyer, Chelsea Goodman and Erica Lott, Colorado State's Mekana Barnes and Tonya Mokelki, UNLV's Maria Aladjova, Lauren Miramontes and Jada Walker, and Utah's Lori Baird were repeat selections from last year. Colorado State's Jaime Strauss and Ashley Fornstrom were joined on the squad by New Mexico's Jeanne Fairchild, TCU's LeMeita Smith, and UNLV's Melody Nua as first-time honorees.

2007 MOUNTAIN WEST ALL-CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL TEAM
Name	School	Class	Position	Hometown
Rachel Dyer!*	BYU	Jr.	MB	Encinitas, Calif.
Chelsea Goodman!**	BYU	Sr.	OH	Mesa, Ariz.
Erica Lott!**	BYU	Sr.	OH	Orem, Utah
Mekana Barnes!*	CSU	Jr.	MB	Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Tonya Mokelki!*	CSU	Sr.	RS	Weyburn, Saskatchewan
Jaime Strauss	CSU	Jr.	OH	Fort Collins, Colo.
Jeanne Fairchild	UNM	Jr.	OH	Albuquerque, N.M.
LeMeita Smith	TCU	Sr.	OH	Arlington, Texas
Maria Aladjova!**	UNLV	Sr.	OH	Sophia, Bulgaria
Lauren Miramontes!**	UNLV	Sr.	MB	Upland, Calif.
Melody Nua	UNLV	Jr.	S	Lakewood, Calif.
Lori Baird!*	Utah	Jr.	MB	Murray, Utah
Rachel Smith*	WYO	Sr.	OH	Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Setter: Ashley Fornstrom, Colorado State, Jr., Cheyenne, Wyo.
Co-Libero: Aime Cordeiro, San Diego State, Sr., Santee, Calif. Jada Walker, UNLV!, Sr., Palmdale, Calif.

Player of the Year: Mekana Barnes, Colorado State
Freshman of the Year: Lisa Meeter, New Mexico
Co-Coaches of the Year: Tom Hilbert, Colorado State Allison Keeley, UNLV

!notes repeat selection
*notes two-time selection
**notes three-time selection
***notes four-time selection

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