Hudson, Fuentez Earn All-SEC Post-Season Honors
11/21/2007 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- The University of Alabama volleyball team earned two post-season honors, announced the league office today. Seniors Crystal Hudson and Bridget Fuentez received All-SEC honors for the second consecutive year.
"I am very proud of Bridget and Crystal," said Alabama head coach Judy Green. "Both of these young women are very worth of these honors. Without their commitment to becoming the best player they could possibly be and the support of their teammates, honors like these would be unattainable. They have always and will continue to represent the University of Alabama in a classy way."
Hudson, a senior middle blocker, averaged a .345 hitting percentage on the year and .371 in conference matches, to finish third in the league. Hudson's performances also led Alabama to a third place SEC team finish in hitting percentage. The Hueytown native tallied 3.81 kills per game to finish seventh in the conference statistics. The week 5 SEC Player of the Week led the Tide in kills, kills per game, hitting percentage, block attempts, total blocks and blocks per game throughout the season. The award is the second consecutive All-SEC first team honor for Hudson.
In addition to the award, Hudson finished the regular season with 437 total kills, which catapults her career total to 1,526, good enough for fourth on the Alabama all-time kills list. Her 102 block assists this season also puts her third all-time with 338 assists. Hudson finished the regular season ninth in the individual season records in block assists, behind her 2006 total of 106 assists.
Fuentez, a senior outside hitter, finished eighth in the SEC in kills with 291 total kills and averaged 3.78 kills per game. The three-time All-SEC second team selection finished second for the Tide in the same category. Fuentez led Alabama in total attempts with 930, 1,411 overall, and was second for the Tide in kills with 291, 423 overall. Fuentez also tallied 267 digs, good for second on the team. The award is the third for Fuentez.
Fuentez ended the regular season sixth on the Alabama all-time kills list with 1,373 and second in total attempts with 4,045. The Tomball native is only the second Alabama player to record over 4,000 attempts in a career. Fuentez currently ranks seventh on the Alabama all-time digs list with 1,056.
The Crimson Tide will take the holiday week off to train for the upcoming 2007 NCAA Division I volleyball tournament. The selection show will air on ESPNU at 8:00 p.m. ET.
For more information on Alabama volleyball, visit www.rolltide.com.
Player of the Year: Angie McGinnis, Florida
Defensive Player of the Year: Elena Martinez, LSU
Freshman of the Year: Nikki Fowler, Tennessee
Co-Coaches of the Year: Mary Wise, Florida; Joe Getzin, Ole Miss
Scholar Athlete of the Year: Rachel Shanks, Auburn
First Team All-SEC:
Crystal Hudson, Alabama
Marcie Hampton, Florida
Amber McCray, Florida
Angie McGinnis, Florida
Queen Nzenwa, Kentucky
Lauren DeGiralamo, LSU
Kyna Washington, LSU
Second Team All-SEC:
Bridget Fuentez, Alabama
Jessica Dorrell, Arkansas
Kelsey Bowers, Florida
Kisya Killingsworth, Florida
Maria Taylor, Georgia
Nicole Britenriker, Kentucky
Elena Martinez, LSU
Rachel Kieckhaefer, Ole Miss
All-Freshman Team:
Sarah Freudenrich, Arkansas
Callie Rivers, Florida
Erika Clark, Georgia
Lauren Rapp, Kentucky
Angela Bensend, LSU
Jackie Jones, Ole Miss
Megan Laughlin, South Carolina
Nikki Fowler, Tennessee
