December 11, 2002
Texas A&M outside hitter Laura Jones garnered additional awards today as she was named the Central Region Freshman of the Year and also was selected to the All-Central Region team, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced.
Jones, who last week was named to the All-Big 12 Conference team as well as Big 12 Freshman of the Year, becomes the first Aggie to earn region freshman of the year distinction since the AVCA began honoring the top freshman in each region in 1999. In addition, Jones becomes only the second A&M player to be named to the all-region team as a freshman since 1994 when Kristie Smedsrud was named to the second team.
Jones, from Arlington, Texas, hit .269 and led the Aggies with 3.77 kills and 4.41 points per game while helping A&M reach the second round of the NCAA Championship and finish with a 21-10 record. In addition, the 6-2 rookie tallied a team-high 422 kills, smashing the A&M record for kills in a season by a freshman previously held by Smedsrud, who posted 358 kills in her inaugural campaign. Jones also set an A&M record with 332.0 points in Big 12 matches only.
Jones played in all 31 matches and reached double figures in kills in 24, including a career-high 24 kills against No. 5 Nebraska. She took team-high honors in kills in 11 matches and tallied a team-leading six 20-plus kill performances.
The central region encompasses the 40 teams representing the Big 12 Conference, the Mid-Continent Conference, the Missouri Valley Conference and the Southland Conference, as well as independent Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. All first-team members will now be considered for All-America honors which will be announced Dec. 18.
The following is the entire All-Central Region Team (School, position, classification):
Jill Arganbright (Northern Iowa, S, Jr.)
Greichaly Cepero *** (Nebraska, S, Sr.)
Monique Gerlach (Colorado, MB, Jr.)
Kathy Hahn (Texas, MB, So.)
Amber Holmquist *** (Nebraska, MB, Sr.)
Kelly Johnson (Texas Tech, OH, So.)
Laura Jones (Texas A&M, OH, Fr.)
Kim Kester (Northern Iowa, OH, Sr.)
Christi Myers (Missouri, MB, Sr.)
Molly O'Brien ** (Northern Iowa, MB, Jr.)
Laura Pilakowski *** (Nebraska, OH, Sr.)
Mira Topic (Texas, OH, So.)
Region Freshman of the Year: Laura Jones, Texas A&M, OH
Honorable Mention: Laura Downey-Wallace (Kansas State, DS/Lib, Jr.), Lauren Goehring (Kansas State, MB, Jr.), Lindsey Hunter (Missouri, S, Fr.), Rebekah Pallikan (IUPUI, OH, Jr.), Jennifer Saleaumua (Nebraska, RS/Opp, Fr.), Linette White (Southwest Missouri State, MB, Jr.)
* Denotes total number of years selected to AVCA Division I All-Region Team