Taking on the difficult role of starting setter as a freshman, Jamie Mellies (Henderson, Nev.) has been named GNAC Co-Freshman of the Year, while senior Nikole Thompson (Marysville, Wash.) earned Second Team All-GNAC honors for the second straight year, as the conference’s volleyball postseason honors as voted on by the GNAC coaches were released Monday afternoon.
Mellies entered the starting lineup in the second match of the season and never left it, finishing fifth in the conference in assists per game (10.62), collecting 988 assists during the season. She had the second-highest assist total in a single match this season in the GNAC, earning 68 assists on Sept. 8 at Northwest Nazarene. Mellies also had 18 service aces, 245 digs, and 66 total blocks during her initial collegiate campaign.
Thompson wrapped up one of the top careers in Seattle University history, finishing seventh in the conference with 3.89 kills per game. She became the fourth member of the Seattle 1,000 career kill club and tied the school record for kills in a match with 29 against Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 8, also a conference high this season. Thompson also finished third on the team in service aces with 23, second in digs with 307, and fifth in blocks with 33.
Mellies, who tied for Freshman of the Year honors with setter Joelle Perez of Seattle Pacific, becomes the second Seattle University player to win the GNAC Freshman of the Year award, as Sarah Sommerman earned the honor in 2002. Thompson finishes her collegiate career with five GNAC Player of the Week honors as well as two Academic All-GNAC awards.
Seattle University, 10-16 in 2007, will start the transition to Division I status in 2008. Although the team can play a mixed schedule, head coach Shannon Ellis is planning to put together a schedule with the vast majority of matches coming against Division I schools, as 12 players from the 2007 roster are eligible to return for 2008.