Fowler named All-American in volleyball

Tennessee sophomore Nikki Fowler became the ninth All-American in Lady Vols volleyball history after she was an honorable mention selection by the American Volleyball Coaches.

"I am very glad that the rest of the country sees and recognizes the contributions that Nikki has made to our program," Lady Vols coach Rob Patrick said in a UT release. "This award is a testament to her work ethic and constant drive to improve in every facet of her game.

"She played at an extremely high level all year and I could not be more proud of what she was able to accomplish this season. For her to take on such a huge role as a sophomore, not only offensively, but passing and defensively as well, is not an easy thing to do, but she handled it better than we could have ever asked her to."

After having just two All-Americans in the first 45 years of the program, the Lady Vols have now had at least one selection in four of the past five seasons. Fowler joins Beverly Robinson (1982), April Chapple (1984), Michelle Piantadosi (2004), Kristen Andre (2004, 2005), Julie Knytych (2004, 2005), Amy Morris (2004, 2005), Yuliya Stoyanova (2005, 2006) and Sarah Blum (2006).

A member of the AVCA All-South Region Team and the only unanimous selection to the All-SEC First Team, Fowler ranked second in the conference with 3.80 kills per set.

For the year, she led UT in kills (427), kills/set (3.62), attacks (1139), points (493.0) and points/set (4.18).

Baseball: Sophomore outfielder Kentrail Davis and sophomore pitcher Bryan Morgado have been selected to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-America Team.

Davis earned a spot on the first team, while Morgado is a third-team selection.