Volleyball Cougars rack up national recognition
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Columbia, Mo. – Following tonight’s NAIA Volleyball Championship match the NAIA released the members of the 2009 All-American and Scholar-Athlete squads. Cougar senior Maria Omondi was named an NAIA Daktronics All-America Scholar-Athlete as well as a First Team All-American. Fellow senior Cate Eckhardt earned second team nods while Freshman Paula Ferreira made the third team. Libero Tally Mattos pulled in honorable mention honors.
Members of the scholar-athlete squad must hold at least junior status academically and hold a cumulative grade-point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale. This is the second season that Maria Omondi is receiving this honor.
Omondi, a native of Nairobi, Kenya, is the lone four-year senior for the Cougars. Maria is a Chemistry and Biology major that was recently named the 2009 ESPN Academic All-American college division player of the year. She is a two-time first team all-conference recipient and was named the AMC Player of the Year this season. In four years with the Cougars, Maria has notched 1045 kills in 2,186 attempts for a career hitting percentage of 0.313. This season Maria hit an NAIA leading .414 and put down 381 kills.
Taking second team honors was Cate Eckhardt, a senior outside hitter from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. In her first season with the Cougars, Eckhardt took the conference by storm, earning Newcomer of the Year honors as well as first team. Cate played in 134 sets for Columbia, leading the team with 508 kills. Eckhardt was also third on the team with 335 digs and second on the team in aces with 52.
Paula Ferreira, a freshman setter from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, earned third team honors this season. Ferreira was named AMC Setter and Freshman of the Year as well as taking home first team accolades. Paula dished out 1471 assists this season, averaging over 11 assists per set. Paula also accumulated 174 kills and 55 service aces in her first college season.
Tally Mattos is in her second season with the Cougars and is earning honorable mention status for the first time in her career. The Cougar libero hails from Osasco, Brazil and was also named to the AMC first team in 2009. Mattos, a junior, ended the season with 494 digs in 123 sets. In just two seasons with Columbia, Tally has almost 1,500 digs to her credit.