University of New Mexico senior libero Allison Buck was named to the 14-person All-West Region team announced Tuesday by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
The Camas High School graduate was also recently named the designated libero on the 17-player All-Mountain West Conference team for the second consecutive season.
“This honor is amazing,” Buck told UNM’s athletics department website golobos.com. “I wouldn’t have gotten this without the help of my teammates and my coaches. Both my teammates and my coaches pushed me to be a better player everyday in practice and it feels great that the AVCA noticed my hard work.”
Buck, who was named the designated libero for the All-MWC team, is the fifth repeat All-MWC honoree in Lobo volleyball history.
“This is Allison’s second year as the designated libero,” UNM coach Jeff Nelson said of the All-MWC selection. “I think she has been one of the premier players in the conference the last two years. She is certainly extremely deserving of that honor.”
Libero is a defensive specialist position. The player remains in the game at all times and is not limited by the sport’s rules of rotation.
Buck accumulated several career moments during her final collegiate season, which ended at 14-15, the first sub-.500 mark in Nelson’s five seasons with the Lobos and just the second in Nelson’s 17-year head coaching career.
She became UNM’s all-time career digs leader as a senior, recording 1,630 digs for her career to pass Gayle Tripp (2005-08) for the all-time spot. She also set the single-season digs record at UNM with 561, besting her previous season high of 455 digs surpassed Sharon Browning’s 1992 record of 499.
She was named to four all-tournament teams in 2011 after Lobos appearances at their own MCM Elegante Classic on Aug. 26-27 and Comcast/Sheraton Lobo Invitational in Sept. 9-10; the Fiesta Bowl Classic at Northern Arizona University on Sept. 2-3; and the Pitt Blue and Gold Classic at the University of Pittsburgh on Sept. 17.
Against Delaware at the Pitt Blue and Gold Classic on Sept. 17, Buck recorded career- and league-highs with 36 digs in UNM’s 3-1 victory over the Blue Hens.
Northwest’s Jackson CCC player of week
Northwest University senior center Jessalyn Jackson was named Cascade Collegiate Conference women’s basketball player of the week of Nov. 28 through Dec. 4.
The 6-foot Fort Vancouver High School graduate averaged 19.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 6.4 blocks as the Eagles defeated Pacific Lutheran University and Evergreen State College.
Jackson had 24 points and 13 rebounds in the non-conference win over Pacific Lutheran — her fifth double-double of the season — and broke her school record for blocks with 10 rejections against Evergreen. Several of her blocks against Evergreen came late in the game, helping to preserve the victory for the Eagles (4-4, 1-0 CCC).
Jackson is currently leading the conference at 22 points and 4.67 blocks a game. She is also tied for third in rebounding at 10.0 a game, alone in third in both defensive rebounding (6.67 a game) and offensive rebounding (3.33) and is seventh in field goal percentage (50.5 percent).
A First Team All-CCC selection as a junior, Jackson has led the conference in blocked shots each of the past two seasons, and last season was seventh in NAIA in blocks a game and eighth in total blocks.
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