University of Tennessee Athletics
Three Lady Vols Earn All-SEC Volleyball Honors
November 16, 2000 | Volleyball
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Southeastern Conference announced its regular season volleyball awards Thursday at the SEC Tournament hosted by the University of Florida. Juniors Ariana Wilson (Cincinnati, Ohio/Princeton) and Erica Lear (Columbus, Ind./Columbus East) and sophomore Janelle Hester (Davenport, Iowa/Davenport) were all selected from head coach Rob Patrick's squad.
Wilson, an outside hitter, headlined the Lady Vols' selections as she was named to the SEC's First Team for the second straight year. She leads the conference in kills, averaging 4.77 a game and accounts for 28 percent of the team's kills. She topped the 1,000-kill plateau on Oct. 8 at LSU and currently ranks seventh in career kills (1,231) and ninth in career attacks (2,760) in the UT record books. This season there have been only three matches this season where Wilson has failed to tally in double-digit kills. Wilson also earned a spot on the University of Minnesota All-Tourney Team.
Lear, a setter, earned Second-Team All-SEC honors for second straight year. She leads the conference and is ranked 13th in the nation in assists, averaging 13.98 a game. She ranks second on UT's career assist chart with 3,599. Lear tallied 88 assists against Arkansas on Oct. 6 and set UT's record for assists in a single-match. She also accounts for 20 percent of the Lady Vols' digs, averaging 2.88 a game.
Hester, a middle blocker, also earned Second-Team All-SEC status for the first time in her career. Hester ranks second on the team in kills, averaging 3.36 per game. She rates second on the team in blocking (.84 a game). Hester was the SEC Player of the Week for the week ending Sept. 25th and was named the University of Tennessee Ed South Athlete of the Month for September. She was named to the Miami-JustBalls.com Classic All-Tournament team as well as the Toyota of Knoxville All-Tournament team.
Wilson, Lear and Hester will lead the Lady Vols (21-7/9-5 SEC) into action on Friday as they meet the University of Arkansas (15-13/9-6) in the first round of the SEC Tournament. The match is set to begin at 12:30 p.m.
