April 17, 2013
TUCSON, Ariz. – Rising junior Madi Kingdon has been selected as one of 12 members to a Pac-12 all-star volleyball team for competition in China this summer, the Pac-12 Conference announced on Tuesday.
The summer all-star team – made up of 12 Pac-12 student-athletes – will play at least six matches against Chinese Professional Club Teams over two weeks in Beijing and Shanghai. USC head coach Mick Haley will lead the squad and joining him on the coaching staff are fellow Pac-12 coaches Beth Launiere (Utah) and Jen Greeny (Washington State), who will serve as his assistant coaches on the trip.
In addition to the matches, the student-athletes will enjoy cultural and sightseeing visits in China at the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Summer Palace and other attractions.
“This type of tour can be a transformative moment for our student-athletes,” said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. “In addition to the competition on the court, they will return to their teams with a meaningful life experience of visiting another country and learning more about another culture.”
Competition against Chinese teams competition is not new for Pac-12 women’s volleyball players. In addition to international play like the Olympics, four Pac-12 women’s volleyball teams hosted the Jiangsu Volleyball Team from Nanjing, China, one of the leading professional volleyball teams in China, for matches during the 2012 season.
Kingdon earned Pac-12 honorable mention all-conference honors after leading the Cats and ranking eighth in the conference in kills with 443 (3.96 k/s) last season. She Finished the year with a .211 hitting percentage to go along with 319 digs (2.85 d/s), 44 blocks and 16 service aces. Kingdon also led the squad in points with 486.5 and ranked 10th in the league. She totaled 13 double-doubles on the season and had six matches with 20 kills or more. The Phoenix native recorded double-figure digs on 15 different occasions was the only Wildcat to start in all 31 matches. She also recorded double-figure kills in an incredible 26 of 31 matches. For her career, she has already accumulated more than 800 kills and 500 digs
The Pac-12 has a storied history in women’s volleyball with 14 NCAA titles, the most of any Conference. This success extends across the Conference with seven different Pac-12 teams advancing to the national semifinals since 2001. The Pac-12 also features the nation’s best players with the AVCA National Player of the Year coming from the Pac-12 in each of the last three years.
The student-athletes on the tour represent Pac-12 teams that distinguished the Conference during the 2012 season with seven NCAA Tournament bids, tied for the most of any conference in the country. The University of Oregon advanced to the national championship game to mark the third-straight year a league squad has played in the final match, and five Pac-12 teams finished the season ranked in the top 15 of the AVCA National Coaches poll.
This summer’s All-Star team was selected by the coaching staff and Pac-12 liaison and includes two setters, one libero, three middle blockers, and six outside hitters from Pac-12 teams. The team features some of the top talent in the country and the Conference. Five were voted All-Pac-12 in 2012, including USC’s Natalie Hagglund, who was voted the Conference’s Libero of the Year for the second year in a row. Along with Hagglund, two others on were tabbed AVCA All-Americans (Oregon’s Liz Brenner and Lauren Plum). In total, 10 of the 12 universities in the Conference are represented.
The team includes two freshmen, four sophomores, five juniors and one senior.
2013 PAC-12 VOLLEYBALL ALL-STAR TEAM ROSTER
NAME COLLEGE YEAR IN SCHOOL POSITION
Inky Ajanaku Stanford Freshman Middle Blocker
Liz Brenner Oregon Sophomore Outside Hitter
Hayley Crone USC Junior Setter
Shelby Dalton Utah Sophomore Outside Hitter
Kelcey Dunaway Washington Senior Middle Blocker
Macey Gardner Arizona State Freshman Outside Hitter
Marcelina Glab Wash. State Junior Middle Hitter
Natalie Hagglund USC Junior Libero
Madi Kingdon Arizona Sophomore Outside Hitter
Arica Nassar Oregon State Sophomore Outside Hitter/Middle Blocker
Lauren Plum Oregon Junior Setter
Kelly Reeves UCLA Junior Outside Hitter
Head Coach: Mick Haley, USC
Assistant Coaches: Jen Greeny, Washington State; Beth Launiere, Utah
For continued coverage of Arizona Wildcat volleyball, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and be sure to follow the team on Twitter @ArizonaVBall.
