COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.– Laura Beach and Kayla Slofkiss have been named to the All-Mountain West volleyball team, the conference announced on Monday. It’s the third-straight selection for Beach and second for Slofkiss. Beach also becomes the fourth Cowgirl to earn All-MW honors at least three times.
Beach led the team with 295 kills and a .399 hitting percentage. She started in all 31 matches for the Cowgirls during her senior season and closed out her career with 109 consecutive starts. Her hitting percentage led the MW and was 14th in the NCAA. It was also the fourth-best in Wyoming single-season history. To begin the season, she was named to the all-tournament team of the UniWyo Invite for the second-straight season.
Beach was second on the team with 120 total blocks and averaged 1.09 blocks per set throughout the season. In conference play, she hit a MW-best .404, averaged 1.15 blocks per set and added 2.85 kills per set. Beach completed her career as the all-time leader in hitting percentage (.372), fifth with 438 total blocks and 12th with 982 kills. She was also named to the 2016 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSida) Academic All-District team that was announced earlier this month. Beach was voted to first team District VII in the NCAA Division I.
Slofkiss also started in all 31 matches this season. She was second on the team with five double-doubles and earned her first MW Offensive Player of the Week award after becoming the 11th Cowgirl to record 1,000 kills against UNLV. She was second on the team with 284 kills (2.58 kps) and 268 digs (2.44 dps).
In conference action, Slofkiss added 2.76 kills per set and 2.44 digs per set to help guide the Brown and Gold. During her senior season, Slofkiss joined Jodi Purdy (2009-12), Ronda Munger (1984-87) and Michele Rauter (2000-03) as the only players with 1,000 kills and 900 digs during their career. Slofkiss ended her career eighth in digs (951) and sets played (427) and also 11th in kills with 1,037 for Wyoming.
Along with senior Courtney Chacon, Beach and Slofkiss won 85 matches as Cowgirls. The 85 victories are third all-time as a class. Bridget Shanahan was the lone four-year senior a year ago and helped Wyoming win 88 matches from 2012-15, while the 1983-86 teams won 86 matches for UW.
2016 Mountain West Volleyball
All-Conference
Sierra Nobley – Boise State
Maddy O’Donnell – Boise State
Kaitlyn Oliver – Boise State
Maddi Osburn – Boise State
Sanja Čizmić – Colorado State
Jasmine Hanna – Colorado State
Kirstie Hillyer – Colorado State
Katie Oleksak – Colorado State
Alexandra Poletto – Colorado State
Madison Morell – Nevada
Julia Warren – New Mexico
Deja Harris – San Diego State
Alexandra Psoma – San Diego State
Bree Hammel – UNLV
Alexis Patterson – UNLV
Lauren Anderson – Utah State
Laura Beach – Wyoming
Kayla Slofkiss – Wyoming
Honorable Mention
Sabryn Roberts – Boise State
Aleisha Coates – Fresno State
Lyndsey Anderson – Nevada
Madison Foley – Nevada
Nandyala Gama – San José State
Player of the Year: Sierra Nobley, Jr., OH, Boise State
Freshman of the Year: Katie Oleksak, S, Colorado State
Newcomer of the Year: Kirstie Hillyer, R-Fr., MB, Colorado State
Coach of the Year: Shawn Garus, Boise State%
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