Sports - Local Colleges

POSTED: Thursday, Jun. 12, 2008

WWU NOTEBOOK: Schneider wins GNAC player of the year award

Courtney Schneider, who led Western Washington University to a national runner-up finish in volleyball last fall, was named the GNAC Female Athlete of the Year for the 2007-08 season on Wednesday.

David Registe of the University of Alaska Anchorage, who won the NCAA Division II long jump title this spring, was named the Male Athlete of the Year.

The awards are voted upon by the athletic directors at the GNAC’s 10- member institutions.

Schneider, a senior, is the second Western volleyball player to win the award joining setter Liz Bishop, who was the 2003-04 winner.

Schneider led Western Washington to a 26-5 record, a NCAA Division II Pacific Regional title and a berth in the NCAA national championship match. No GNAC team had ever previously advanced beyond the regional semifinals.

She completed her career as one of the top defensive players in NCAA Division II history, setting NCAA single- season (7.74) and career (7.00) records for most digs per game, and finishing third in NCAA history in career digs with 2,695. She broke the former national single-season record by nearly one dig per game.

In addition she also set school and GNAC records for digs in a season (851), career (2,695) and single match (50) and established a NCAA Division II Elite Eight match record with 44 digs against Washburn, Kansas., in the national semifinals.

Schneider also earned GNAC Player of the Year honors and was a firstteam American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American selection and a second-team Daktronics All- American. She earned GNAC, Daktronics Pacific Region and AVCA Pacific Region all-star honors each of her final three seasons and Elite Eight and Pacific Region all-tournament honors in her senior season.

In all, she won a total of six All- American awards in her career, including three by the AVCA (first team in 2007, third team in 2006 and honorable mention in 2005) and three by Daktronics (first team in 2006, second team in 2007 and third team in 2005). The Daktronics team is chosen by the nation’s sports information directors.

VIKINGS 20TH IN DIRECTORS’ CUP STANDINGS

Buoyed by a strong finish in spring sports, Western Washington University placed No. 20 in the 2007-08 U.S Sports Academy Directors’ Cup standings in NCAA Division II.

The Vikings finished with 466.75 points, 319.75 during the spring and 147.00 during the fall. Heading that effort was a fourth straight national championship in women’s rowing and a second-place finish in volleyball.

Western was sixth nationally in women’s golf and eighth in men’s golf. The Vikings also were 11th in men’s cross country, 21st in women’s track and 47th in men’s track.

Grand Valley State (Mich.) won its third straight Division II championship with 1028.75 points.