Teams: Volleyball: Press Releases

Tuesday, December 2, 2003
Written by Michael Douglas

VOLLEYBALL'S EVANS NAMED ALL-AMERICA HONORABLE MENTION

MEDFORD - Capping off a successful season rife with individual honors, Tufts University sophomore Courtney Evans (Bellaire, TX/Episcopal) has been named an honorable mention selection to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III All-America team. Evans was among the team and New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) leaders in a number of statistical categories, including hitting percentage (.365) and blocks (144).

Evans performed at an extremely high level in the 2003 season, and had a number of impressive individual performances along the way. In Tufts' 3-2 loss to Colby on Sept. 27, she registered a season-high 23 kills in five games, compiling a .553 hitting percentage to go along with nine blocks (one solo, eight assisted). She recorded a season-high .769 hitting percentage with 10 kills and no errors in 13 attempts in Tufts' 3-0 victory over Wheaton on Oct. 25. She also tallied a season-high ten blocks (three solo, seven assisted) in a three-game sweep of Bridgewater State (Oct. 4).

On the season, she recorded 300 kills with a team-best .365 hitting percentage, second in the NESCAC. Evans notched a hitting percentages above .500 ten times in her 31 matches. She also had a team-high 144 blocks (52 solo, 92 assisted), which placed her fourth in the conference with 1.26 blocks per game, and led the squad with 37 service aces.

In only the second season of her collegiate career, Evans has begun to earn recognition as one of the top players in both the league and the region. Earlier this year she was named to the AVCA All-New England squad. This follows an excellent freshman campaign in which she led the squad in blocks (132 total, 1.15 per game) and was among the team's leaders in kills (218), kills per game (1.90), and service aces (35).

Head coach Cora Thompson's Jumbos (20-11) finished the 2003 season with a first-round loss to Amherst College in the NESCAC tournament for the second straight year. The young team has shown progress, however, taking the fourth-ranked Jeffs to the decisive fifth game before losing 16-14. One year earlier, the then sixth-ranked Jumbos had lost to the third-ranked Jeffs 3-1.

With Evans leading a talented core of young players that includes All-NESCAC First Team freshman OH Kelli Harrison (Blue Jay, CA/Rim of the World) and returning top performers junior OH Emily Macy (Henderson, NV/Green Valley), junior OH/RS Ali Sauer (Larchmont, NY/Mamaroneck), junior setter Rebecca Schaevitz (San Rafael, CA/The Branson School), and sophomore OH/MB April Gerry (Holmes, NY/Pawling), the Jumbos are poised to surpass the 20-win plateau and advance deeper into the NESCAC playoffs in 2004.

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