LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – A pair of former Colorado College standouts – setter Lizzy Counts and outside hitter Abby Holtze – highlight an impressive list of student-athletes named to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's 30th Anniversary volleyball team. Complete Release
The Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference will be announcing 30th Anniversary teams in 21 sports throughout the 2020-21 academic year. The league selected 15th Anniversary teams during the 2005-06 academic year – those selections can be found here.
The SCAC's 30th Anniversary teams were selected through balloting by present coaches in each sport as well as administrators. Athletes who participated in conference competition between the fall of 2005 through the spring of 2020 and had been named to at least two All-SCAC teams and/or were a selected as a Player-of-the-Year in their respective sport were eligible for selection.
Trinity University led the way with five selections to the exclusive 30th anniversary volleyball team, followed closely by Colorado College and Southwestern University with four selections each. Austin College, Centre College and Texas Lutheran University had one honoree each.
SCAC VOLLEYBALL – 30TH ANNIVERSARY TEAM
- Lizzy Counts, Setter, Colorado College
- Abby Holtze, Outside Hitter, Colorado College
- Sarah Burger, Outside Hitter, Centre College
- Maggie Emodi, Outside Hitter, Trinity University
- Samantha Lingamfelter, Libero, Southwestern University
- Audra Gentry, Outside Hitter, Southwestern University
- Emily Perkins, Middle Blocker, Colorado College
- Kirby Smith, Outside Hitter, Trinity University
- Kaitlyn Foster, Outside Hitter, Southwestern University
- Sara Buros, Right Side, Trinity University
- Jessica Fleming, Middle Blocker, Austin College
- Christina Nicholls, Setter, Southwestern University
- Courtney Birkett, Right Side, Colorado College
- Erika Edrington, Setter, Trinity University
- Caroline Keener, Setter, Trinity University
- Megan Lee, Libero, Texas Lutheran University
Counts capped her impressive career in 2019 by earning her third All-America honor, leading the Tigers to a share of the SCAC regular season title and the program’s 22nd consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament. One of CC’s most decorated players, the three-time First Team all-conference selection and 2017 SCAC Player-of-the-Year is one of just four players in program history to earn three or more All-America honors. Counts became the second player in school history to record 4,000 or more career assists and finished her career in second with 4,170. Colorado College led the league in hitting percentage her last three years running the offense, including last year when the Tigers hit .261 (seventh in the nation).
Holtze is one of just four players in SCAC history to earn First Team all-conference honors all four years of their career. The 2014 and 2016 SCAC Player-of-the-Year, she is also one of just five players to earn multiple POTY honors and one of just five to have both a Freshman-of-the-Year and a POTY award on their resume. The three-time All-American finished her career with a program-high 1,702 kills and amassed 1,616 digs – becoming just the second CC player to surpass the 1,600-mark in both statistical categories.
Centre’s Burger, the 2004 SCAC and AVCA South Region Freshman-of-the-Year and a four-time All-SCAC selection (two time Second Team; two time First Team), finished her career with 2,188 kills – the second most in league history. Her 4.08 kills/set career average is good for fourth all-time and her .333 career hitting percentage places her eighth on the SCAC career charts.
Trinity’s Emodi, the 2013 SCAC Player-of-the-Year and 2011 Freshman-of-the-Year, was a three-time all-conference selection and two-time All-American (First Team in 2013; Second Team in 2014). She finished her career with 1,724 kills (second all-time at Trinity; eighth in SCAC history), 1,542 digs and 270 total blocks. At the time of her graduation, she was one of just 10 Trinity players to earn multiple All-American honors in their career.
Southwestern’s Lingamfelter, the league’s only three-time Backrow Player-of-the-Year (2007, 2008 and 2009) capped her career with Third Team All-America honors in 2009. A four-time All-SCAC selection (Third Team in 2006, Second Team in 2007 and First Team in 2008 and 2009), Lingamfelter finished her career with 2,856 digs – the second-most in SCAC history – and averaged 5.15 digs per set (fourth in SCAC history).
Gentry, who was teammates with Lingamfelter all four years at Southwestern, was a three-time all-SCAC performer herself (Third Team in 2007; First Team in 2008 and 2009), earning SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors in both 2008 and 2009. She is one of just five players in league history to earn multiple POTY awards. The two-time All-American finished her career at Southwestern with 1,416 kills, 1,076 digs and 125 total blocks.
Colorado College’s Perkins the 2010 SCAC Player-of-the-Year, earned First Team All-American honors in both 2009 and 2010. At the time, she was just the second player in program history to earn First Team All-American honors two or more times. Perkins finished her career as the Tigers’ all-time leader with 1,665 kills and 307 block assists and ranked second with 422 total blocks and third with 1,595 digs.
Trinity’s Smith finished as runner-up for the league’s Player-of-the-Year award both her junior and senior seasons (2016 and 2017) and was a three-time All-SCAC honoree (Second Team as a sophomore in 2015). A two-time All-American, which included a First Team nod in 2016, Smith finished her career with 1,414 kills (which ranked seventh on the school’s all-time list at the time), 1,271 digs and 163 total blocks.
Southwestern’s Foster was a four-time All-SCAC performer, earning First Team honors in 2014 and 2015. A First Team All-American in 2015, one of just two Southwestern players to earn that distinction in the SCAC era, Foster finished her career with 1,374 kills, 2,104 digs and 155 total blocks.
Buros earned SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors and was named First Team All-American in 2006 after leading Trinity to its ninth straight SCAC title. The three-time All-SCAC and two-time All-American finished her career with a .321 hitting percentage (11th in SCAC history), 1,115 kills, 1,076 digs and 284 total blocks.
Austin College’s Fleming, the only former ‘Roo to make the all-Anniversary squad, was a three-time All-SCAC performer, capping her career with First Team nods in both 2010 and 2011. She ended her career with the second-highest hitting percentage in league history (.424) and is the SCAC’s all-time leader in both total blocks (644) and blocks per set (1.51). Her 3.9 kills per set ranks sixth all-time.
Southwestern’s Nicholls was a three-time First Team all-conference honoree, culminating with her SCAC Player-of-the-Year award and First Team All-American honors her senior season in 2011. She became just the fourth player to accumulate 5,000+ career assists and finished her career with 5,357 (third all-time in SCAC history).
Colorado College’s Birkett rebounded from an injury-plagued junior season to earn SCAC Player-of-the-Year and First Team All-American honors her senior season (2015). She finished her career with 1,129 kills, 1,007 assists and 1,053 digs to become the first player in the storied history of CC volleyball to record at least 1,000 career kills, assists and digs.
Edrington was a four-time All-SCAC performer for Trinity, garnering Second Team honors in 2013 and 2014 and First Team accolades in 2015 and 2016. The setter finished her career with 4,419 assists (10th in SCAC history) and added 1,499 digs.
Trinity’s Keener was the Freshman-of-the-Year in 2005, a three-time All-SCAC honoree (Second Team in 2005; First Team in 2007 and 2008) and capped her career with back-to-back All-America honors in 2007 (Second Team) and 2008 (Third Team). She finished her career with 4,033 assists, averaging 9.74 per set with 878 digs.
Texas Lutheran’s Lee, the only Bulldog to appear on the all-anniversary team, earned Second Team All-SCAC recognition as well as the league’s Backrow Player-of-the-Year honors in both 2013 and 2014 – becoming one of just three players to earn multiple Backrow POTY honors in league history. She averaged 6.22 digs per set in her time at Texas Lutheran – the highest digs per set average in SCAC history.
The SCAC was formed in 1991 after a reorganization of its predecessor, the College Athletic Conference (CAC). The CAC dates to 1962 with four charter members: Centre College, Southwestern @ Memphis (now Rhodes College), Sewanee-The University of the South, and Washington & Lee (Va.) University. Washington (Mo.) University joined the CAC later that same year.
The SCAC was formed to provide an association through which the member institutions may encourage organized competition in intercollegiate sports among teams representative of their respective student bodies. Members of this conference share a commitment to priority of the overall quality of academic standards and quality educational experiences.
