BATON ROUGE — LSU senior Daniela Romero earned her second honorable mention All-America honor for the 2006 season, after being selected by Asics/Volleyball Magazine on Friday.
The Asics/Volleyball Magazine All-America team consisted of 12 players on each of the first and second teams and 18 players named honorable mention selections. In December, Romero was also named an AVCA honorable mention All-American. This is the first Asics/Volleyball Magazine honor for a Tiger since 1991 when Monique Adams earned first-team honors and Dani Reis was an honorable mention selection.
A first-team AVCA All-South Region and first-team All-Southeastern Conference selection, Romero led the SEC and ranked 13th in the NCAA with 13.41 assists per game. While recording 50 or more assists in 13 matches in 2006, her 1,531 assists this year ranks fourth in single-season assists in school history and was the most in a single season since Reis in 1991. In addition, she ranks second in career assists with 4,486, behind only Reis, who also holds the SEC career record.
The SEC Player of the Week on Sept. 5, the Arlington, Texas, native also picked up Most Valuable Player honors at the Billiken and Dayton Marriott Invitationals and was selected to the Tiger Invitational and SEC/Big East Challenge all-tournament teams.
Guiding the LSU offense to school records for kills and assists per game, she led the Tigers to eight matches with hitting percentages over .300. For the second-straight year, LSU advanced to the NCAA Tournament after winning its second-consecutive SEC Western Division championship. With a 26-6 record, the Tigers tied for the most wins in a single season since 1991 and had the sixth highest winning percentage in school history, the 20th best in the nation in 2006.
In addition, LSU ranked second in the SEC and 14th in the NCAA with 16.75 kills per game, while leading the league and ranking 15th nationally with 15.46 assists per game. With 51 assists against Kentucky on Oct. 20, Romero tied for the seventh-most assists in a three-game match in school history.
Against Marquette on Nov. 25, she became just the eighth player in Tiger history to record 1,000 career digs. Romero is also only the second player in school history, along with Reis, to record 4,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs. She concluded her career with 1,009 digs, which ranks eighth in LSU history. She also ranks fifth in career digs per game at 2.57.
2006 ASICS?/Volleyball Player of the Year: Sarah Pavan (Nebraska)
2006 ASICS?/Volleyball Freshman of the Year: Megan Hodge (Penn State)
2006 ASICS?/Volleyball Coach of the Year: Andy Banachowski (UCLA)
2006 ASICS?/Volleyball Defensive Player of the Year: Debora Seilhamer (USC)
2006 ASICS?/Volleyball Most Improved Player: Angie McGinnis (Florida)
First-Team
Name School Year Ht. Pos.
Foluke Akinradewo Stanford So. 6-3 MB
Cynthia Barboza Stanford So. 6-0 OH
Ashley Engle Texas Fr. 6-3 Opp.
Nicole Fawcett Penn State So. 6-4 OH
Megan Hodge Penn State Fr. 6-3 OH
Jordan Larson Nebraska So. 6-2 OH
Angie McGinnis Florida Jr. 5-11 S
Nana Meriwether UCLA Sr. 6-1 MB
Christal Morrison Washington Jr. 6-1 OH
Sarah Pavan Nebraska Jr. 6-5 Opp.
Nellie Spicer UCLA So. 5-10 S
Courtney Thompson Washington Sr. 5-8 S
Second-Team
Name School Year Ht. Pos.
Kristen Carlson San Diego Sr. 6-2 OH
Christa Harmotto Penn State So. 6-2 MB
Asia Kaczor USC Jr. 6-4 Opp.
Kanoe Kamana’o Hawai’i Sr. 5-8 S
Bryn Kehoe Stanford Jr. 5-11 S
Marisa Main Ohio State Sr. 5-9 S
Amber McCray Florida Jr. 6-0 Opp.
Meredith Nelson Minnesota Sr. 6-3 MB
Angie Pressey California Jr. 5-8 OH
Airial Salvo Utah So. 6-0 OH
Debora Seilhamer USC Sr. 5-5 Libero
Tracy Stalls Nebraska Jr. 6-3 MB
Honorable Mention
Kylie Atherstone, So., OH, Cal Poly, Kelly Bowman, Sr., Opp., Minnesota, Katie Carter, Sr., OH, UCLA, Alexis Crimes, Jr., MB, Long Beach State, Alesha Deesing, Jr., MB, Washington, Chelsea Goodman, Jr., OH, BYU, Rachel Holloway, Fresh., S, Nebraska, Jamie Houston, So., OH, Hawaii, Stephanie Lynch, So., MB, Purdue, Danielle Meyer, Jr., MB, Ohio State, Michelle Moriarty, Jr., S, Texas, Ashley Nu’u, Sr., S, Colorado, Kristin Richards, Sr., OH, Stanford, Daniela Romero, Sr., S, LSU, Eliane Santos, Sr., MB, Oklahoma, Jackie Simpson, Jr., S, Wisconsin, Jessica Swarbrick, So., MB, Washington, Whitney Webb, Jr., Opp., Utah