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Serna Receives AVCA All-Midwest Region Honorable Mention Accolades

Dec. 10, 2008

ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced Wednesday that UCF senior Stephanie Serna (San Antonio, Texas) earned 2008 AVCA All-Midwest Region Honorable Mention accolades. Serna becomes only the eighth volleyball player in UCF history to earn all-region honors and the first to garner the honor since 2003.

"We are very proud of Stephanie as she continues to get national and regional recognition," head coach Todd Dagenais said. "While we are all very excited that she earned this honor, we feel like she had the type of season that warranted recognition on the all-region first team. But with so many talented young women playing, and so few spots on the first team, we are very excited that she was able to receive this recognition."

Serna became the first UCF volleyball player to be named to the All-Conference USA Second Team earlier this season after leading UCF to its highest C-USA finish and its best record in five years. Serna ranked sixth in the league in hitting percentage (.314) and seventh in kills per set (3.22) in C-USA play and also led the Knights with 216 kills in league matches.

The San Antonio, Texas, native finished her senior campaign third on the team with 376 overall kills, a single-season career-high for the right-side hitter, while also hitting .279 on the season after posting a .300 attack percentage or better in 17 matches. Serna paced the Knights in kills in nine matches in 2008 and tallied 10 or more kills on 22 different occasions, including a streak of 15-straight matches with 10 or more kills from Sept. 13-Oct. 24.

C-USA, the fifth-toughest volleyball conference in the nation, dominated the All-Midwest Region selections, with 10 of the 14 first-team spots going to a C-USA player, while five of the eight honorable mention selections were from the league.

For the complete list of AVCA All-Region selections, please visit AVCA.org.

AVCA All-Midwest Region
Katelyn Barbour, Morehead State, S/RS, Sr.
Ivana Bozic, UAB, OH, Sr.
Stephanie Champine, Austin Peay, OH, Jr.
Lucy Charuk, Houston, MB, So.
Justine Farmer, Houston, OH, Sr.
Jen Linder, Tulane, MB, Sr.
Brittany Malicoat, Valparaiso, DS/L, Sr.
Karyn Morgan, Rice, OH, Sr.
Angie Porche, Valparaiso, OH, Jr.
Sara Radosevic, Tulane, OH, Sr.
Jalicia Ross, Marshall, MB, Sr.
Meredith Schamun, Rice, S, So.
Nevena Stefanov, UAB, S, Sr.
Bridget Wells, Tulane, RS/Opp., Sr.

Honorable Mention
Amy Benz, Cleveland State, MB, So.
Natalie Bogan, Rice, MB, Jr.
Kim Bukowski, Valparaiso, S, Jr.
Casey Dent, UAB, MB, Sr.
Visnja, Djurdjevic, Tulane, OH, Fr.
Lauren Felsing, UW-Milwaukee, DS/Lib. Jr.
Stephanie Serna, UCF, RS/Opp., Sr.
Tracey Lam, Rice, DS/Lib., So.

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-UCF-