Eight Tide Volleyball Players Earn SEC Academic Honors
1/30/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA ?? The Crimson Tide volleyball team added some more postseason awards to its extensive list of accomplishments in the fall of 2006 when the Southeastern Conference included eight Alabama team members on the Fall Academic Honor Roll.
Among the honorees where UA volleyball players Lindsey Buteyn, Bridget Fuentez, Rachael Green, Crystal Hudson, Megan Hudson, Christie McKee, Amy Pauly and Brigitte Slack.
“It is the philosophy of our program to have well rounded student-athletes at Alabama,” said head coach Judy Green. “The academic effort demonstrated by these eight young women exemplifies the total success of our volleyball program. As a coaching staff we are very proud of their accomplishments.”
The eight honorees for the 2006 season gave the Tide 76 Academic All-SEC performers in Green’s tenure at the Capstone.
Hudson, a first-team All-SEC performer and an AVCA Honorable Mention honoree, had one of the best seasons in Tide history. She finished the season with 452 kills and recorded her 1,000th career kill in a win over Tennessee in early November. Hudson hit .384 for the season, the fourth-best percentage in school history. Hudson is a Health Care Management major at the Capstone.
Slack, another record-setting player on the 2006 Alabama squad, is third on the UA all-time assist charts. The Ft. Wayne, Ind., native has 4,152 heading into her senior season, just 181 shy of the school record. Slack is majoring in Human Development and Family Studies at UA.
A marketing major, Fuentez has also been one of the best players in the SEC the past two seasons. A second-team all-conference honoree in 2005, Fuentez had another outstanding season despite battling through some injuries during conference play. She finished behind Hudson for the team lead in kills with 415 on the season.
Pauly came on to become the Tide’s full-time libero and defensive specialist in her sophomore season and set a new school record in one of her first matches. She tallied 35 digs in a match in September to set the school’s match record in that category. The communications major was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week three times during the regular season.
Team co-captains Green and Hudson were integral members of the Alabama team on and off the floor. Green, a senior from Ooltewah, Tenn., majors in electrical engineering and was one of the best blockers in school history during her career. Hudson, a public relations major, played significantly in the Tide back row during her junior season.
Buteyn, a sophomore, came off the bench to spell Green in the front row during the season. The communications major played in seven matches for the Tide. Teammate McKee did not play following a season-ending injury in fall camp and is a nursing major at the Capstone.
Under Green, the Tide advanced to the second NCAA Tournament berth overall and the second in as many seasons after a third-place finish in the SEC. Alabama finished 17-13 mark overall and a 12-8 record in the SEC, including the second-ever win over Arkansas and a victory over No. 10 LSU at home in October.
