Dec. 15, 2010
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For the second straight season, Georgia Tech senior setter Mary Ashley Tippins and sophomore right-side hitter Monique Mead have been named American Volleyball Coaches Association honorable mention All-Americans.
Last year, Tippins and Mead become the 10th and 11th Yellow Jackets to receive AVCA All-America honors, and Georgia Tech has now had at least one player earn the distinction in each of the last eight years. Mead is the first player in school history to receive All-American consideration in each of her first two seasons.
After leading the ACC and finishing 20th in the nation in assists last year, the Atlanta native was fourth in the league this season with 10.87 assists a set. In Tech’s match against North Carolina last month, Tippins passed Allie Niekamp for third place all-time in assists at Georgia Tech and finished with 3,646 in her career. Tippins also averaged 2.37 digs, 0.71 kills, 0.51 blocks and 0.16 service aces per set. She had 12 double-doubles this season and came within a couple of kills of a triple double two different times.
Mead led the league and is 18th in the nation with 4.31 kills per set. She was the only player in the ACC to average over four kills per set and her 5.07 points per set ranked first and 13th, respectively. Mead also had 1.96 digs per set and is eighth in the league with 0.28 service aces a set. She had 101 total blocks on the season, an average of 0.88 a set, and was second on the team with six double-doubles. On Sept. 24 against Duke, Mead set a career high with 30 kills. It was Tech’s first 30-kill match since Talisa Kellogg had 35 against Virginia on Oct. 22, 2005 and just the 12th 30-kill match by an individual in school history. She has had at least 20 kills in a match eight times this year.
