Nov. 17, 2005

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Big East Conference announced its 2005 volleyball awards on Thursday evening at its annual banquet, and sophomore outside hitter Kacy Sellers (Battle Creek, Mich.) was rewarded for a stellar season by receiving a spot on the All-Conference Second Team.

Sellers has been one of the team's top all-around players this season. She leads the team with a .313 attack percentage and also has accumulated team-highs of 49 service aces and 96 blocks. Sellers averages 2.58 kills and 1.57 digs per game.

The Wildcats have benefited from the play of Sellers throughout the season, as the team posted one of the largest turnarounds in conference history. Villanova enters the quarterfinals of the Big East Championship on Friday with an overall record of 21-10 and a mark of 8-6 in league matches. That record currently is a 10.0-game turnaround from the 2004 season, when the Wildcats were 9-18.

After a strong freshman campaign in 2004, Sellers picked up where she left off this season. In 31 matches, Sellers tallied double figures in kills 10 times and led the team in the category on four occasions. She also led the team in attack percentage in 10 matches and either tied or led the squad in blocks 14 times. Against Georgetown on October 8, she registered one of her top performances of the year. Sellers pounded down 21 kills with a .395 attack percentage in the match, both team highs. She also had five blocks and a season-high 15 digs to record her only double-double of the season.

Sellers is just the second Villanova player since 1998 to receive all-conference honors. In 2003, Kerri Sullivan was named to the second team in a year when the Wildcats also qualified for a spot in the conference tournament.

The Big East, which expanded to 15 teams this season, honored a total of 24 players on the first and second all-conference squads. Each team consisted of the 12 players with the highest number of votes from league head coaches. In the major awards, Lena Ustymenko (Louisville) was named Player of the Year, while Debbie Brown (Notre Dame) was Coach of the Year, Jessie Nevitt (Cincinnati) was Rookie of the Year and Megan McGrane (Pittsburgh) was Libero of the Year.

Villanova earned the No. 8 seed in the Big East Championship and will face top-seeded Notre Dame on Friday afternoon at 12:30 p.m. The conference championship is being hosted by Louisville at the Kentucky International Convention Center. The Wildcats are making their second appearance at the conference tournament in the past two years.