Biola had a record haul on Dec. 10 as the 2012 NAIA Volleyball All-America teams were announced as senior Christine Douglas and sophomore Amy Weststeyn earned first-team honors while juniors Chelsee Arnitz and Gracee Gallarda received second-team honors.
The Eagles have had 25 players earn a total of 36 All-America awards but have never had more than three in one season. In 1997, Biola had a pair of first-team honorees and one on the Third Team.
"It is an honor to have four players named to the All-America team," said Biola head coach Aaron Seltzer. "They have worked hard to be among the best in the country and they definitely deserve this honor. I'm just happy they are playing on our team because I would not want to face them."
Douglas, a senior outside hitter from Cypress, earned All-America honors for the third-straight season after being a third-team pick as a sophomore and a second-team pick her junior year. She becomes just the fourth three-time All-American in program history and the first since Meghan (Scheenstra) Warkentin (2006-08). Douglas finished the season with a number of impressive performances at the NAIA National Championships, earning NAIA All-Tournament honors after recording 73 kills (3.65 per set) and posting a .272 attack percentage in five matches.
Douglas capped her three-year Biola career with 1,465 kills, ranking seventh all-time at Biola. She led the GSAC and ranked 20th in the NAIA in kills per set with 3.92. She also finished fifth in the conference with a .285 attack percentage and added 57 blocks, 102 digs, 12 assists and four aces.
Douglas recorded double-digit kills in 26 of the 32 matches she played this year including eclipsing 20 twice. She recorded 21 in two different matches, posting 21 with three kills and a .359 attack percentage in a four-set win at Vanguard, then adding 12 in a five-set victory at Westmont a week later.
Weststeyn, sophomore middle blocker from Visalia, was a second-team All-American and the NAIA Freshman of the Year last season. This year, Weststeyn was second in the GSAC and seventh in the NAIA in attack percentage at .383 and also led the GSAC in blocks with 94, an average of 1.09 per set.
Weststeyn also had an impressive tournament run and was honored on the NAIA All-Tournament team. She had 70 kills (3.50 per set) and a .312 attack percentage while adding 26 blocks (1.30 per set) including five solo.
On the season, Weststeyn had 19 matches where she posted a .400 attack percentage or better. She also had 17 matches in double-figures in kills including five-straight at the NAIA Tournament. Weststeyn posted a career best 21-kills in 32 swings with just one error in Biola's first showdown against Lee University at the Concordia tournament in early-September. She had a season-high 10 blocks including six solo in Biola's five-set loss at Concordia in November.
Arnitz, a junior middle blocker from Yorba Linda, led the GSAC with a .394 attack percentage and would have ranked fourth in the NAIA but just fell below the statistical minimums for total attacks. She also ranked 12th in the conference in blocks with 0.68 per set, recording a total of 67 on the season. She also had 248 total kills, 51 digs, 20 aces and six assists.
Arnitz reached double-figures in 11 matches including posting 11 kills in 12 swings while adding four blocks in an early-season win over Rocky Mountain College in August. She ended up hitting .500 or better in 13 matches on the season and recorded four or more blocks in seven matches.
Gallarda, a junior setter from Yorba Linda, was one of the top setters in the GSAC this season, leading the conference with 1,161 assists and a 11.06 assist per set average. She finished seventh in the NAIA in assists per set and also seemed to save the best for last. Gallarda averaged 11.60 assists per set at the NAIA Tournament including 53 in a five-set win over Lee and 52 in a four-set win over Missouri Baptist.
Gallarda also finished third on the team with 270 digs (2.57 per set) and added 44 kills, 41 blocks and 37 aces. She had at least 40 assists in 11 matches--including each of the final four of the season. Gallarda's best statistical match of the year was the Eagles' five-set win at Westmont where she set career-bests in assists (59), digs (20) and kills (6).
Biola wrapped up the 2012 season last week at the NAIA Volleyball National Championship Tournament, reaching the semifinals for the seventh time in program history. The Eagles went 5-1 in the tournament and finished the season with a 31-5 overall record, placing second in the GSAC with a 12-2 conference mark.
The complete 2012 NAIA All-America Volleyball teams can be found at http://www.naia.org/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=27900&ATCLID=205820091.
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