Miami's Carico, Loessberg Named AVCA All-Region
Dec. 9, 2009
Lexington, Ky. – University of Miami volleyball student-athletes Lane Carico and Cassie Loessberg have been selected to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region Team for NCAA Division I announced Thursday evening. Both Hurricanes were selected to the East Region Team, the region for which UM competes within the ACC.
Cassie Loessberg, a senior libero/defensive specialist from Sacramento, Calif., is earning her first appearance on the All-East Region Team after leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in digs (and digs per set) throughout the 2009 campaign. She ended her stellar four-year career as Miami’s top performer in digs, holding a career total of 2,008–joining the ACC’s Top 10 all-time for digs.
Last week, Loessberg was selected to the All-ACC Team for the first time after collecting a league-best 584 digs, holding an average of 5.03 digs per set. Earlier in the fall, her off-the-court success as a United States Marine Reserve was chronicled by the NCAA and USA Volleyball.
As for Lane Carico, the Manhattan Beach, Calif., native is making her second consecutive appearance to the All-East Region Team after being named AVCA East Region Freshman of the Year in 2008. She led the ACC in kills with 506, en route to becoming UM’s second-leading performer all-time for kills in a single season. In helping Miami to its second NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch, Carico ended the year averaging 4.36 kills per set–and setting a new school record for kills in a postseason match with 21 against FIU in the Gainesville Regional.
Just as Loessberg, Carico was named to the All-ACC Team a week ago, leading the league in double-doubles with 20. Carico currently sits seventh all-time at UM for career kills, sporting 875 through two full seasons in Orange and Green.
“It is very deserving for both Cassie and Lane to be honored,” stated Lantagne Welch. “They are both such complete and consistent players for our program, and have been instrumental in our successes this season. This honor shows what we see every day out of them–that Cassie is one of the best liberos, and Lane is one of the best outsides in the region, and nationally.”
In addition, Lane Carico’s sister Taylor was an honorable mention selection for the All-Mideast Region Team as a setter at the University of Minnesota. The senior earned her fourth consecutive All-Region nod after collecting the distinction three previous times at the University of Southern California.
As a league, the ACC headlined all other conferences with 13 players selected to the All-East Region Team. Additionally, all 13 All-East Region selections were named to the All-ACC team last week.
Among the AVCA’s eight regions, the ACC’s 13 selections tied with the Big Ten and Pacific-10 Conferences for the top mark in Division I. The Big East and Southeastern Conferences, along with Conference USA, had nine picks each.
For more information on the University of Miami Volleyball team, please log on to www.hurricanesports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, stats and information regarding the Hurricanes Volleyball program.
