Three Gators named to AVCA All-Region Team

December 7th, 2005

University of Florida senior outside hitter Jane Collymore, sophomore middle blocker Kisya Killingsworth and sophomore setter Angie McGinnis were each selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-South Region team as announced Wednesday.

The Gators placed at least three members on the team for the 15th consecutive season dating to previously released AVCA All-District and NCAA All-Region teams. Florida was one of only 11 schools in the nation to place as many as three athletes on an All-Region squad. Each of the three players is now eligible for the AVCA All-America teams, which will be announced on Wednesday, Dec. 14.

Collymore earned her third AVCA All-South Region honor and is a strong candidate to be named an All-American for the third time, while also increasing Florida's stretch of having an outside hitter on the team to 16 consecutive years. She was honored as the Southeastern Conference's Player of the Year for the second-straight season after leading the league in kills per game. Collymore has picked up four tournament MVP honors in 2005, including the SEC Tournament award. She has ascended the Gator career records charts this season and currently ranks third in school history in aces (176), fourth in kills (1,602), fourth in points (1,915.0) and eighth in digs (1,102). Earlier in 2005, she became just the sixth player in UF history to reach 1,000 kills and digs. She also joined Aycan Gokberk as the only other player in school history to record two 500-kill seasons in a career.

Killingsworth is in the midst of one of the top seasons by a sophomore middle blocker in school history and extended Florida's streak of placing at least one middle blocker on the team to 15 straight seasons. She earned first-team All-SEC honors and is ranked seventh in the nation and tops in the SEC in hitting efficiency at .409, which stands as sixth best in school history. Her average of 3.46 kills per game is sixth in UF history by a middle blocker and the best since 1999. She's hit above .400 in 18 matches in 2005 and above .300 in 28 matches. Among sophomores, Killingsworth ranks in the top 10 in kills per game (3.46), kills (384), blocks per game (1.32) and total blocks (146) in school history.

McGinnis became the ninth Florida setter to be named All-Region in the last 14 seasons. Currently ninth in the nation in assists per game (13.54), McGinnis is in the process of compiling one of the best campaigns by a setter in UF history. The only setter named to the All-SEC first team, McGinnis is also averaging 1.20 kills per game on .409 hitting with 2.41 digs per game and 1.70 points per game. Her totals in kills and hitting efficiency are the best by a setter in school history, while her point average is second and her assist and dig averages are third. McGinnis became the first player in school history to reach 2,000 assists in her first two seasons and is on pace to become the first Gator ever to reach 5,000 in a career. Earlier in 2005, she became the first player in UF history to record a triple double when she picked up 59 assists, 22 digs and 10 kills at Tennessee.

Florida returns to action when the Gators travel to Omaha, Neb., for the NCAA Regional Semifinal against #7 Louisville at 6 p.m. (ET) on Friday at the Qwest Center. The contest will be carried live on WRUF-AM 850 and on www.GatorZone.com.