Nov. 27, 2012
Pac-12 All-Conference 2012 Teams
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. - The Arizona State volleyball team earned its first all-conference honoree since 2002 after Macey Gardner earned Pac-12 Volleyball First Team accolades.
This is the first All-Conference award for Gardner, who also was named to the All-Freshman Team with Allison Palmer. Erica Wilson, a senior, earned All Pac-12 Honorable Mention.
Arizona State now has 16 All-Conference picks in program history with the addition of Gardner in 2012. The Sun Devils had the second most student-athletes named to the All-Freshman Team, behind Stanford who had four selected. Dating back to 1986, ASU has had 15 freshmen make the All-Freshman Team.
Gardner ranks second in single-season kills at ASU with 562 and is one of only three freshmen ever to lead the Pac-12 conference in total kills. Those who have also accomplished the feat were UCLA's Kristee Porter (1998), a two-time All-American and Natalie Williams (1990), a four-time All-American and four-time Olympic gold medalist. Gardner's kills rewrote the schools freshman kill record and she also holds the record for kills per game with 4.46.
Palmer has done work herself, ranking fourth in single-season assists with 1430. Her tally ranks second in the conference (11.63/s) and first among the freshmen class.
Wilson's senior campaign is one of the best years of her career. She ranks fifth in single-season kills (507) and has boosted her career kill mark to rank 12th all-time at ASU with 1110. Defensively, Wilson is fifth in block assists (295) and eighth in total blocks (323).
Earlier in the week three Sun Devils were named to the first and second team for academics. ASU led the conference alongside Oregon State with three who garnered the conference award. Since the conference began the award in 1986, Arizona State leads all Pac-12 schools with the most student-athletes earning All-Academic with 50, two ahead of Stanford and five ahead of third-most Oregon State.
Congrats to Macey Gardner @pac12 First Team! @ericamwilson honorable mention and Gardner and Allison Palmer All-Frosh thesundevils.com/sports/w-volle...
-- Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) November 27, 2012
A look at ASU volleyball's 2012 trophy case thus far:
Pac-12 All-Conference
First Team
Macey Gardner
Honorable Mention
Erica Wilson
Pac-12 All-Freshman Team
Macey Gardner
Allison Palmer
Pac-12 All-Academic
First Team
Bethany Jorgensen
Jenny Teslevich
Second Team
Caitlyn Francis
Honorable Mention
Alexis Pinson
Stephanie Preach.
Pac-12 Players of the Week
Defensive: Stephanie Preach, Nov. 26
Freshman: Macey Gardner, Oct. 1, Sept. 17