Columbia College Reclaims AMC Volleyball Throne

Lebanon, Ill. – For the 13th time in the last 14 years, Columbia College has earned the American Midwest Conference Tournament championship. The Cougars outlasted Missouri Baptist University in four games on Saturday, Nov. 11 to take the league's tournament title. Scores from the match were 30-28, 30-22, 21-30 and 30-24. Missouri Baptist had ended the Cougars' 12-year AMC title run last year. Saturday's victory gives the Cougars the AMC’s automatic bid to the NAIA Region V Tournament. The eight-team, single-elimination tournament begins Tuesday at campus sites.

As the runner-up in the AMC Tournament, the Spartans also receive an automatic berth to the regional playoff. Two teams from the Heart of America Athletic Conference as well as four at-large teams will round out the regional playoff field. The winner of the Region V Tournament will receive an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament, which will be hosted by Columbia College in Columbia, Mo., from Nov. 29-Dec. 3.

For the second consecutive year, Ana Mercado of Missouri Baptist University has been named the American Midwest Conference Volleyball Player of the Year. Mercado, a senior outside hitter from Tepic, Mexico, posted 743 kills and 137 service aces in regular season play. She led the conference in both categories. Mercado averaged 6.5 kills, 1.2 aces and 3.6 digs per game for the Spartans.

The 2006 AMC Freshman of the Year is Skye Wade from William Woods University. Wade, an outside hitter/setter from Licking, Mo., collected 164 kills, 191 assists, 26 service aces and 348 digs in her first year at the college level.

Repeating as the AMC Libero of the year is Tracey Abell of Missouri Baptist University. Abell, a sophomore from St. Peters, Mo., led the conference with 955 and a sparkling 7.5 dig-per-game average. She also contributed 52 service aces and had a reception percentage of .922 for the Spartans.

The 2006 AMC Setter of the Year is Luana Branco of Columbia College. Branco, a sophomore from Sao Paulo, Brazil, posted 1,295 assists for the 2006 AMC champions. In addition to leading the Cougars in assists, Branco had 246 attacks, 48 service aces and 528 digs this season.

Winning AMC Coach of the Year honors for 2006 is Melinda Wrye-Washington. Now in her seventh season at Columbia, Washington helped lead the Cougars back to the head of the class in the AMC. She guided Columbia to a 35-4 regular-season record and a perfect 14-0 mark in AMC contests. Over her seven years at Columbia, Washington has posted a record of 277-31.

A complete list of the 12-member AMC All-Conference team, the honorable mention squad and the Academic All-Conference team, are listed on the following pages. Members of the Academic All-Conference team have earned at least a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale.

- AMC -

Columbia College
Dominique Sisneros, Erin McCaffrey, Jeanie Meyers, Alice Mucheke, Shari Tuttle

Hannibal-LaGrange College
Ashley Firebaugh, Esther Harkins, Kathryn Heyer, Ashlee Millstead, Kara Neeley, Ashley Vink

Harris-Stowe State University
Nicole Bokelman, Brandy Carter

University of Illinois-Springfield
Danielle Crossen, Ali Janezic, Tori McColez, Audra Roach, Lauren Sanders, Daniell Simler, Ashley Wade

McKendree College
Courtney Aldridge, Colleen Crider, Codi Dempster, Marcy Gibson, Katelyn Kombrink, Dana Maedge, Nicole Taylor, Laura Walk, Laura Winkeler

Missouri Baptist University
Ashlee Lukasek, Brittany Lukasek, Ana Mercado

William Woods University
Jessica Alberts, Sarah Anderson, Whitney Gorman, Tina Perry, Lindsey Scheets, Nicolette Schauermann, Kristin Smith

Williams Baptist College
Cortney Goodwin, Amanda Haralson