KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Five players earned repeat first-team selection to the 2008 All-MIAA Volleyball Team, as selected by the conference's coaches.

Three of the returnees -- junior OH Arica Shepard of league champion Emporia State (32-3, 18-2 MIAA), senior MH Allie Cherven of runner-up Truman (29-7, 16-4 MIAA) and senior OH Monica Miesner of third-place Washburn (30-5, 15-5 MIAA) -- were among five unanimous selections to the squad.

ESU sophomore S Ting Liu also earned unanimous selection to the first team and was selected as the MIAA's Most Valuable Player.

Senior RH Sammie Williams of Pittsburg State (28-7, 14-6 MIAA) was the other unanimous first-team choice. Her teammate, junior OH Pamela Cartagena, along with Truman senior RH Melissa Keck round out the repeat first-team choices from 2007.

Liu ranks second in NCAA Division II and leads the MIAA with an average of 12.17 assists per set. Shepard led the conference in scoring (4.06 pps) and kills (3.74 kps) while hitting .253.

The duo helped lead the Hornets to their first MIAA championship and the top seed for the South Central Regional starting Friday (Nov. 21) in Emporia.

Cherven is among the conference leaders in hitting (.321 -- 7th) and blocks (1.16 bps -- 2nd) and has averaged 3.23 points per set in 2008. She recently cracked the MIAA's career top 10 in blocks (488).

Miesner comes into the postseason averaging 3.48 points (9th in the MIAA), 3.04 kills (8th in the MIAA) and 0.223 service aces (7th in the MIAA) for the defending regional champion Lady Blues. She also hits .278 and averaged 4.06 digs per set.

Williams is the MIAA's third-leading scorer (3.90 pps) entering the regional, and trails only Shepard in kills per set (3.56). She raised her attack percentage to .268 on the year after a two-week stretch during which she hit .378 (76 kills, 11 errors, 172 attacks).

Cartagena is hitting .258 and averages 4.68 digs (6th in the MIAA , 1st among non-liberos), 3.36 points and 2.94 kills per set.

Keck is fifth in hitting percentage (.337) going into the regional, and averages 2.86 points per set.

Sophomore Rachel Fister of Central Missouri was the first-team choice for libero. The converted outside hitter is second in the MIAA with an average of 5.13 digs and is third in service aces (0.290 per set).

Fister's teammate, OH Allie Huffman, picked up the Freshman of the Year award. She is fourth in the MIAA in kills (3.48 per set) and seventh in scoring (3.71 ppg), and has a .257 hitting percentage.

Emporia State's Bing Xu (pronounced shu) was selected by his peers as the conference's coach of the year. His Hornets had a school-record 19-match win streak en route to ESU becoming just the fourth school to win a championship in the MIAA.

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First Team++*Allie Cherven, TSU MH 6-1 Sr. St. Charles, Mo.$$*Monica Miesner, WU OH 5-11 Sr. Florissant, Mo.+*Arica Shepard, ESU OH 5-9 Jr. Rossville, Kan.*Sammie Williams, PSU RH 6-1 Sr. Independence, Mo.++Pamela Cartagena, PSU OH 5-7 Jr. Bayamon, P.R.+Melissa Keck, TSU RH 6-0 Sr. Belleville, Ill.*Ting Liu, ESU S 6-1 So. Beijing, ChinaRachel Fister, UCM L 5-9 So. Labadie, Mo.*=Unanimous choice+=Repeat first-team choice from 2007++=Repeat first-team choice from 2006 & 2007$$=Repeat first-team choice from 2005 & 2007 Second TeamPaula Harris, UCM MH 6-1 Fr. Conway Springs, Kan.Allie Huffman, UCM OH 5-11 Fr. Lee's Summit, Mo.Linda Igbinigie, PSU MH 6-4 Sr. Richardson, TexasMegan Koster, ESU OH 5-10 Sr. Clay Center, Kan.Eli Medina, TSU OH 5-8 Sr. Kansas City, Mo.Ellen Thommes, UNO MH 6-0 Jr. Omaha, Kan.Caitlin Pankratz, UCM S 5-7 Jr. Buhler, Kan.Whitney Boehler, TSU L 5-10 Sr. Olathe, Kan. Third TeamHannah Carter, ESU MH 6-0 Sr. Olathe, Kan.Ashley Jurgensmeyer, SBU MH 6-1 Fr. Osceola, Mo.Sara Kampschneider, UNO OH 5-10 Jr. Dodge, Neb.Mollie Lacy, WU MH 5-11 Fr. Lincoln, Neb.Brittney Miller, ESU RH 5-10 So. Paola, Kan.Ashley Shepard, WU OH 5-10 So. Rossville, Kan.Kate Hampson, WU S 5-7 Jr. Fort Collins, Colo.Kayla Jansen, UNO L 5-6 Jr. Omaha, Neb. Honorable MentionSara Falcone, NWMSU MH 6-0 So. Omaha, Neb.Klaudia Grelowska, PSU OH/RH 6-1 Sr. Belchatow, PolandDana Hanselmann, TSU MH/OH 6-0 Sr. Sleepy Hollow, Ill.Lillian Rezende, FHSU OH 6-1 Jr. Franca, BrazilAshlee Russell, MSSU OH 5-8 So. Spokane, Mo.Amber Ryan, NWMSU MH 6-0 So. Esko, Minn.Kelli Sicner, MWSU OH 5-10 So. Omaha, Neb. Stephanie Nitz, WU MH 6-2 Sr. Moline, Ill.Jacquelyn Williams, UCM MH 5-11 Sr. Overland Park, Kan.Emily Myers, UNO S 5-10 Fr. Modesto, Calif.Ashley Petak, TSU S 5-7 So. Omaha, Neb.Emily Vosseler, PSU S 5-10 Jr. Leavenworth, Kan.Amy Byfield, ESU L 5-4 Jr. Mission, Kan.Kari Hammerbacher, MSSU L 5-2 Jr. Buffalo, Mo.Molly Smith, WU L 5-5 So. Overland Park, Kan.Paige Spangenberg, NWMSU L 5-8 So. Red Oak, Iowa Most Valuable Player: Ting Liu, S, ESUFreshman of the Year: Allie Huffman, OH, UCMCoach of the Year: Bing Xu, ESULegend: L=Libero, MH=Middle Hitter, OH=Outside Hitter, RH=Rightside Hitter, S=Setter
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