Three Horizon League volleyball players earn AVCA All-America honorable mention status

Dec. 13, 2006

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Indianapolis, Ind. -- The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced the 2006 Division I All-America teams, Wednesday, Dec. 13, as three Horizon League players earned Honorable Mention status.  The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee saw Leanne Felsing and Cheryl Hegemann gain recognition, along with University of Illinois at Chicago standout Ambria Springer. 

Senior middle blocker Hegemann was named the League's Player of the Year after propelling the Panthers to a regular-season League title, and subsequently helped UW-Milwaukee claim the Horizon League Championship and an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.  She led UW-Milwaukee in kills and blocks during the regular season and was also named the League's Offensive Player of the Week twice.  Hegemann ranked in the top 10 in five Horizon League statistical categories for the season and is now UW-Milwaukee's all-time blocks leader. Hegemann finished at second in the League in points per game with an average of 4.58 and was ranked third in the circuit in kills with 3.61 per game, while also averaging 1.10 blocks per game.

Junior setter Felsing earned honorable mention recognition thanks to her strong overall play. An all-Horizon League honoree, she ranks among UWM's all-time top 10 in digs, assists and aces and in the top 15 in kills.  Felsing notched the seventh triple-double of her career on Oct. 20 at Cleveland State University when she collected 12 kills, 20 digs and 24 assists to earn the College Volleyball Update's National Player of the Week award.  Earlier in the season, Felsing was named the Most Valuable Player of the Bama Bash and was a two-time Horizon League Offensive Player of the Week honoree.  In addition to her triple-double, she had 18 double-doubles this season.

Senior middle blocker Springer was also named to the All Horizon-League team after a strong season.  Springer led the League in with 3.84 kills per game and ranked second in the circuit by averaging 1.24 blocks per game.  She also topped the League points-per-game charts, finishing with 4.92.  The senior helped UIC to its first-ever Horizon League Championship title match and was named to the all-tournament team.  Springer now ranks first in UIC's single-season records book with 160 total blocks and sixth with 495 kills.  She also owns seventh place in the school's career charts with 1,221 kills and 85 solo blocks.

Note: A complete listing of the 2006 AVCA All-America Teams can be found in the PDF version of this release