Dec. 4, 2012

2012 AVCA Division I Regional Awards

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Exactly one week after being named to the Mountain West All-Conference volleyball team New Mexico's Chantale Riddle has received another honor, this time as a member of the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-West Region first team. The 14-member team is composed of the top players in the Western region and is voted on by head volleyball coaches who serve on the AVCA West Region committee. It's the first regional honor for Riddle and she becomes the seventh Lobo (eighth award as Taylor Hadfield was a two-time honoree) under head coach Jeff Nelson to earn the recognition. She joins a list of recent Lobo greats that includes Allison Buck, Ashley Rhoades, Jade Michaelsen, Lisa Meeter, Hadfield and Jeanne Fairchild.

With the All-Region honor, Riddle is eligible for All-America accolades which will be announced next week.

"It's a great honor and one that is well deserved," Nelson said. "I think she's played a big role in the development of our program. Especially this year with all of our injuries. That put a lot of pressure on her and yet, most nights she was able to step up and give us big numbers.

"She did big things offensively and defensively. She had 131 blocks and 299 digs in the opposite position, which are huge numbers to go along with all her kills and points. She was fortunate to have a good setter who got the ball to her on the right side and allowed her to have a lot of success. She's certainly worthy of this award."

Riddle was an offensive and defensive threat, recording 299 digs and 131 total blocks in addition to her 515 kills and 599.0 points.

The 6-foot, right-side hitter had a record-breaking season and was the Lobos go-to gal, leading the team on offense in nearly every match this season. Riddle played all six rotations and among players in the West region (comprised of 30 teams), she was No. 4 in points/set and No. 5 in kills/set, averaging 4.19 and 4.87, respectively. Nationally, Riddle ranks 29th for points and 41st for kills. She was also 25th in the region in blocking (1.07/set).

"Being named to the All-West Region team means a lot to me and to the program because it is one step closer to putting us on the map" Riddle said. "People will start recognizing Lobo volleyball and giving our program more respect."

The Roswell, N.M., native led the Mountain West in overall matches in kills and points and was No. 8 in blocks. She also led the MW in conference matches in kills (260 tot., 4.13/set) and points (305.5 tot., 4.85/set) and was No. 10 in blocks (67 tot., 1.06/set). Her 515 kills sets the Mountain West's sophomore record, ranks her No. 4 in MW history and ranks her No. 2 in UNM program history for kills in a single season. She was 13 shy of the school record, which is held by Kim Hicks who had 528 in 1981.

Riddle crushed the Lobo volleyball record for single-season points with 599.0. The previous record was set by two-time first-team All-American Pauline Manser who had 565.0 in 1991.

She also sits atop the single-season record for total attempts in both Mountain West and Lobo volleyball history and claims the MW sophomore record in that category. Riddle took 1,351 swings this season -- 137 more than the previous Lobo record of 1,214 set by Jenny Pavley in 1996. The previous MW record for total attempts was 1,251 (Courtney Cox of Colorado State, 2000) and the previous sophomore record for the league was 1,221 (Airial Salvo of Utah, 2006). Her 728 total attempts in conference matches is also an MW overall and sophomore record. Riddle's 114 block assists and her 131 total blocks rank her No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, in UNM single-season history.

The Lobo standout finished with 299 digs, 32 set assists, 17 solo blocks and 10 ace serves. She was also flawless on serve receive in her 27 attempts.

Riddle began receiving recognition early in the season as she was named Tournament MVP at both the Sheraton Airport/L.A. Boxing Lobo Classic and the Sheraton Airport/Comcast Lobo Invitational and made the Oklahoma Invitational All-Tournament team. She was also named the MW Player of the Week on Sept. 3.

Riddle was one of seven Mountain West volleyball student-athletes on this year's All-West Region first team as Dana Cranston (Colorado State), Johnna Fouch (San Diego State), Andrea Hannasch (San Diego State), Liz Harden (Boise State), Megan Plourde (Colorado State), and Jodi Purdy (Wyoming) were also honored.

2012 AVCA All-West Region

Region Freshman of the Year: Taylor Formico, UC Santa Barbara, L
Region Coach of the Year: Dave Shoji, Hawaii

Honorable Mention

Chantale Riddle • Redshirt Sophomore • Right-side hitter • 6-0 • Roswell, N.M. -- 2012 Accomplishments

Sheraton Airport/L.A. Boxing Lob Classic Tournament MVP
Sheraton/Airport/Comcast Lobo Invitational Tournament MVP
Oklahoma Invitational All-Tournament team
MW Player of the Week (Sept. 3)
In Mountain West history for overall matches ... holds sophomore record and ranks No. 4 for single-season kills with 515, holds sophomore and ranks No. 1 for total attempts with 1,351
In Mountain West history for league matches ... holds sophomore record and ranks No. 1 for single-season total attempts with 728
In Lobo Volleyball history ... holds record for single-season points with 599.0, holds record for single-season total attempts with 1,351, ranks No. 2 for single-season kills with 515, ranks No. 4 for single-season block assists with 114, ranks No. 5 for single-season blocks with 131
Mountain West Volleyball All-Conference
AVCA All-West Region first team

Lobos Women's Volleyball

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