Mellies finished second among the independent schools with 8.73 assists per set. Collecting 864 assists during the season, she also finished second on the team with 19 service aces and 205 digs, plus she earned 59 total blocks.
Richards, who along with Mellies were the only SeattleU players to start every match and appear in every set, led all players from independent schools by averaging 3.58 kills per set. She also paced the Redhawks with 21 service aces and contributed 203 defensive digs and 67 total blocks during the 2009 campaign.
Emily Deleissegues (Aromas, Calif.) earned honorable mention All-Independent status after leading SeattleU with 397 defensive digs, averaging 4.01 digs per set. Bryant University middle blocker was named Independent Player of the Year, Barbie Unfried of Cal State Bakersfield earned Independent Setter of the Year honors, and CSUB's Kayla Williamson received the Independent Defensive Player of the Year award.
The Division I Independent All-Academic Volleyball Team was also announced, with three SeattleU student-athletes meeting the criteria of being a starter or important reserve and having reached sophomore standing with a minimum 3.30 grade point average. Mellies, a civil engineering major, has the highest grade point average among all the honorees at 3.90. Deleissegues is a business management major with a 3.74 GPA, and Raissa Licano-Sanchez (Grandview, Wash.) has a 3.80 grade point average while majoring in humanities for teaching.
Seattle University finished with an 8-20 record, including a victory over NCAA Tournament participant Army at the Pepperdine Asics Classic. The team loses senior Jessica Gunderson (Duvall, Wash.) to graduation, but 11 letterwinners are expected to return for the 2010 campaign.