Dec. 10, 2008

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Three South Carolina athletes earned recognition from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) today, as senior Belita Salters and juniors Bridget Denson-Dorman and Ivana Kujundzic all picked up spots on the All-South Region Honorable Mention list.

Salters led the Southeastern Conference with a .389 hitting percentage during the season while standing second on the team with 3.16 kills per set. The redshirt senior closed out her career standing fourth in career hitting percentage and in the top 10 on all four blocking categories. Salters earlier garnered a spot on the All-SEC first team.

Kujundzic led the team and ranked in the top five in the league with a 3.61 kill-per-set average, while she stood second on the squad with 2.82 digs per frame. The junior led the Gamecocks in kills on 17 occasions in 2008, most on the team, and has played in 203 consecutive sets, the longest current streak at South Carolina.

Denson-Dorman helped make major improvements in her first year at South Carolina. The squad’s hitting percentage jumped over 40 points from a year ago to .259, which led the SEC overall this season. Denson-Dorman’s 10.57 assists per game also topped the SEC, while she also averaged 0.61 kills per set and 2.12 digs per frame.

It is the first time three Gamecocks have received all-region accolades in the same year since 2002, and it is the first regional award for all three. Five teams had two players each named to the 14-player all-region team. Florida’s Kelly Murphy was selected as the region’s freshman of the year, while Tennessee’s Rob Patrick garnered the south’s Coach of the Year honors. The organization did not choose a regional player of the year.

South Carolina ended the 2008 season with its first 20-win campaign in six years with a 21-9 record.