Stankus Named to AVCA All-America First Team; Schoonover Earns Honorable Mention Selection

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Lexington, Ky. – University of Wisconsin-La Crosse junior rightside hitter Brianne Stankus of Burlington (H.S.) has been selected to the 2008 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America First Team while senior outside hitter Amber Schoonover of Tomah (H.S.) has been named to the AVCA All-America Honorable Mention Squad. It is her second career All-America honor for Stankus after being named to the 2007 AVCA All-America Honorable Mention Team. It is the first career All-America award for Schoonover.

Both players were also named to the 2008 AVCA All-Midwest Region Team and to the 2008 All-Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) First Team.

Stankus is the second player in school history to earn two All-America honors. Sue Ketter was named to the 1986 Asics All-America Team and to the 1987 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III Second Team. Stankus became the seventh player in school history to earn three All-WIAC honors with her first team selection this year. She was named to the 2006 all-conference honorable mention team and to the 2007 first team.

She played in all 40 matches in 2008, averaging 2.71 kills and 3.07 digs, while ranking second on the team in kills (399) and fourth in digs (451) while recording a team-best 49 aces. Stankus had double digit kills in 19 matches in 2008, including a season-high 19 vs. St. Scholastica (Minn.) September 6. She finished with at least 10 digs in 25 matches.

Stankus ranks fourth in school history in kills (1,185), fifth in total attempts (3,242) and eighth in career hitting (.274). She is also ninth in career digs (1,189) and 14th in service aces (131). Stankus was named to the 2008 Gustavus Adolphus College (Minn.) Classic and Millikin University Classic All-Tournament Teams. Currently seventh in the WIAC in hitting percentage (.256) and kills per set (2.71), Stankus is also fifth in points per set (3.32), tied for sixth in aces (0.65) and 14th in digs (3.07).

Schoonover played in all 40 matches this year, averaging a team-leading 3.06 kills per set. She had a team-high 447 kills, 10th in single-season school history. Schoonover had a career-high 19 kills vs. St. Scholastica (Minn.) September 5 and recorded at least 10 kills in 26 of 40 matches. Her 447 kills and 1,311 attempts are both career-highs. Schoonover was third on the team with 473 digs in 2008, averaging 3.24 per set. She had double digit digs in 25 matches.

A 2007 All-WIAC Honorable Mention selection, Schoonover ranks fifth in career digs at UW-L with 1,514. She was named to the UW-La Crosse Invite I, UW-Platteville Invite and Millikin University (Ill.) Classic All-Tournament Teams in 2008. Schoonover ranks third in the WIAC in kills per set (3.06) this year while ranking fourth in points per set (3.38) and 13th in digs per set (3.24).

UW-L finished 28-12 in 2008, advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Eagles earned a 3-2 victory at sixth-ranked the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) in the first round of the national tournament before a 3-0 loss to 18th-ranked Concordia College-Moorhead.

The 28 overall victories are the most since 2004 (31-7). It is also the fourth-most wins under 15-year head coach Sheila Perkins. UW-L finished 33-6 in 2003 under Perkins, 31-7 in 2004 and 30-6 in 1999.

The Eagles were 6-2 in the WIAC this season and placed third at the conference tournament.