LEXINGTON, Kent. – Three Central Washington Wildcat volleyball players have been awarded to the 2022 Division Two All-West Region First Team. Setter/outside hitter Tia Andaya, middle blocker Emma Daoud-Hebert, and outside hitter Ashley Kaufman were all given the honor of making the All-West Region First Team.
 
CWU's three esteemed athletes were the most athletes from any one school on the first team and tied for the most with Western Washington for the entire west region honors.
 
This award comes following the Wildcats upsetting the west region number two seed and host, eighth in the country Western Washington 3-1 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats bowed out in the second round to the eventual regional champion Cal State-Los Angeles 3-0 in the second round.
 
Over the two NCAA tournament matches Andaya tallied on seven more kills to bring her total to 107 on the season. The dual-actioned Andaya also added on 37 assists to bring her season total in assists to 581. She also notched another service ace bringing her total on the season up to 34 as well as adding on 22 more digs for 205 total on the season. She lastly added four block assists to rise her total to 77 blocks on the season. Andaya finished the season tied for sixth in NCAA Division Two for triple-doubles with four.
 
Daoud-Hebert made the most of her opportunities in the NCAA Tournament tallying on 22 more kills, including a season and career high 16 kills against WWU in the opening round. The 22 kills brought her total of kills up to 224 on the season. She finished the season hitting .387 percent which is good for 15^th in the nation at the NCAA Division Two level. Daoud-Hebert also added one assist and one dig to go with her five blocks bringing her NCAA Division Two leading block number to 160 on the season and her NCAA Division Two blocks per set average to 1.5 per set.
 
Kaufman showed to be a leader on the court for the 'Cats in the playoffs. Kaufman put up 17 more kills over the two matches increasing her team high kills to 321 on the season. She added three assists as well as two service aces to bring her ace total up to 35 on the season. Her defense showed up during the tournament adding on 25 digs including a season high 19 against WWU to bring her total digs on the year up to 288, while also adding on one assisted block bringing her season total to 36.
 
The Wildcats will prepare for the 2023 season in which they have big aspirations with most of their core players coming back next season for a deep run into the NCAA Tournament.

To see the full regional awards click Here