Three NU Volleyball Players Earn AVCA All-America Honors

Richmond, Va. -- Three Huskers were among the 24 volleyball players who earned 2000 All-American honors, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced Wednesday. Sophomore setter Greichaly Cepero and sophomore outside hitter Laura Pilakowski were named to the first team, while sophomore middle blocker Amber Holmquist earned second-team honors. Nebraska was the only school to place two players on the first team, and its three overall selections were the most of any team in the country.

Long Beach State's Cheryl Weaver and Stanford's Logan Tom were the only repeat first-team selections from 1999. No other Big 12 Conference players made the 2000 All-American list, which is selected by the AVCA Division I All-American Committee. By earning an All-America honor, a player becomes eligible for AVCA Player-of-the-Year consideration. The award will be presented Friday morning at the AVCA All-American/Player-of-the-Year banquet.

Nebraska, in Richmond preparing for its NCAA semifinal final match against Hawaii Thursday at 5 p.m., has produced 22 AVCA All-Americans who have combined to earn 38 awards.

The Huskers' seventh All-American at the setter position, Cepero has led the Huskers to a No. 1 ranking, a 32-0 record and a .315 hitting percentage (second in the nation) in her first season at the position. The 2000 Big 12 Player of the Year, Cepero was the only setter ranked in the top 10 of three different Big 12 categories during the regular season. She was 10th in hitting percentage, ninth in assists per game and third in blocks per game. A unique setter because of her blocking ability, Cepero was the only setter in the country to rank among the nation's top 20 in blocking (19th). Cepero leads Nebraska in solo blocks with 24 and has been responsible for 33 percent of the Huskers' blocks (147 of 442.5).

For the season, the Dorado, Puerto Rico, native, is averaging 11.93 assists, 2.20 digs, 1.47 blocks and 1.87 kills per game. In conference matches, Cepero tallied 2.03 kills per game and 1.68 blocks per game, incredible numbers for a setter.

Classmate Pilakowski, a first-team All-Big 12 selection, has had the hot hand for NU during the NCAA Tournament. Despite playing sparingly in the first and second rounds after undergoing an appendectomy Nov. 21, she is averaging 5.20 kills per game and 1.10 blocks per game in the postseason. Pilakowski posted 15 kills on .448 hitting against Ohio State Dec. 8 and 17 kills and 11 digs against Arizona Dec. 9. She earned NCAA All-Central Region honors for her efforts.

On the season, Pilakowski produced 4.33 kills, 2.60 digs and .075 blocks per game for Nebraska after playing in just nine matches in 1999 as a freshman. The Columbus, Neb., native's kills per game average ranks ninth on the NU single-season charts. She owns a .344 hitting efficiency, the highest percentage by an outside hitter in the Big 12 this season. During the 2000 regular season, Pilakowski ranked eighth in the conference in hitting percentage and seventh in kills per game.

Holmquist, a native of Houston, Texas, leads the nation with 2.02 per game during the regular season, and she ranked third nationally in hitting percentage before the NCAA Tournament. Holmquist has smashed three Husker records and is moving up two other NU charts. In the past three weeks, Holmquist has set new NU single-season records for block assists (185), total blocks (205) and blocks per game (2.01).

Holmquist has also begun to climb up the Nebraska career-record charts. She ranks ninth all-time in total blocks (326) and 10th all-time in block assists (295) after just two seasons as a Husker. If Holmquist simply matches her freshman and sophomore total blocks and block-assists numbers in her junior and senior season with Nebraska, she will shatter the two records, exceeding the current career record in total blocks by about 60 blocks and the current career record in block-assist record by nearly 100. The 6-foot-4 middle blocker, who has already broken a Big 12 Conference record with 16 total blocks at Texas Oct.22, will also break the Big 12 blocks-per-game average of 1.79 this season. Holmquist also currently ranks second on the Nebraska single-season hitting percentage chart (.413).