Teams: Women's Soccer: Press Releases

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

WYSHAM WRAPS UP SENIOR SEASON WITH AVCA HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICAN HONOR

MEDFORD -- Senior captain Katie Wysham (Spokane, WA/St. George's) of the Tufts University volleyball team was honored as an Honorable Mention All-American and as All-New England Region player by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) this week.

As the on-the-floor leader of the 2007 Jumbo volleyball team, Wysham helped the Jumbos through a turn-around season this fall. Tufts was 8-11 after a loss to Middlebury on October 7, but went 11-2 the rest of the way to finish with a successful 19-13 season. Tufts finished third in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and ascended to #4 in the New England rankings.

Joined in senior leadership by Stephanie Viola (Getzville, NY/Nardin Academy), who missed the season with an injury, Wysham helped the Jumbos through a year that featured a lot of change. Coach Cora Thompson took a temporary leave of absence for family reasons and graduate assistant coach Marritt Cafarchia took over as acting head coach for the season. The Jumbos also changed their style of play in the middle of the year, leading to their strong finish. The seniors surely helped keep things together through a challenging season.

Wysham's play on the court spoke for itself. As of November 4, she was the fifth-ranked blocker in NCAA Division III play. Her average of 1.59 blocks per game came from 71 solo blocks and 82 block assists for a total of 153 in 96 games. Limited offensively by a shoulder injury, she still finished among the top 15 in the NESCAC with a .256 hitting percentage. She had 237 kills and 65 errors in 671 attempts.

This marks the fifth straight year that a member of the Jumbo team has received AVCA Honorable Mention All-America honors. Earlier this season, Wysham was picked to the first teams of the All-New England Women's Volleyball Association and NESCAC earlier this month.

Wysham is one of four NESCAC players on the 12-member All-Region team. Junior teammate Natalie Goldstein (Piedmont, CA/Piedmont) earned Honorable Mention All-Region recognition for 2007. With 5.37 digs per game, she ranked third in NESCAC.

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