UC Irvine’s Wing honored

All-American outside hitter Kelly Wing was named Division I All-West

region as announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association

Tuesday.

The honor is Wing’s second and she is one of nine representatives

from the Big West Conference to be recognized by the AVCA this

season. Long Beach State’s Alexis Crimes was named Region Freshman of

the Year.

Wing owns the top three spots in season kills and attempts and

holds over half of the top 10 marks in attempts and kills in the

match annals. Her name can also be found ninth in the season annals

in digs with 341 scoops she recorded this season.

Wing joins Anteater Popi Edwards (1992-95) as the only players to

be named all-region twice and also is just the second women’s

volleyball player to be recognized as four-time All-Big West

Conference choice.

Vanguard duo lauded

* SOCCER: Vanguard University women’s soccer standouts Stacia

Hoover and Kim Becher received individual postseason honors.

Hoover, a 5-foot-5 defender, received honorable mention for NAIA

All-American laurels. She was named All-Region II and repeated as a

first-team All-Golden State Athletic Conference performer.

Named Vanguard’s Best Defensive Player in 2003, Hoover finished

third on the team in points this season, totaling three goals and two

assists. All three of her goals were game-winners.

Becher, a graduate student in the teaching credential program,

missed some games due to night classes. But she compiled a 6-5 record

in games she started en route to first-team all-conference

recognition.

She had four shutouts and posted a 1.26 goals-against average with

39 saves for the Lions (7-9-2).

Schmidt Lion of Week

* BASKETBALL: Vanguard University sophomore women’s basketball

star Kelly Schmidt, who broke her own single-game scoring record

recently, has been named Lion of the Week by the school.

An NAIA second-team All-American as a freshman, Schmidt scored a

record 41 points in a 142-42 victory over La Sierra (Nov. 23). She

added 19 points in an 89-46 Golden State Athletic Conference-opening

win over Christian Heritage (Nov. 30). She had 18 rebounds in the two

games, while shooting 65.7 percent from the field.

The 6-foot forward has helped the Lions, ranked No. 2 in the NAIA,

start 6-1 and leads the team in scoring, rebounds, steals and

field-goal percentage.