PORTLAND, Ore. - The preseason honors continue to roll in for the Wildcats as
Tia Andaya of the Central Washington University volleyball team was named the GNAC Preseason Player of the Year. Andaya,
Emma Daoud-Hebert,
Ashley Kaufman, and
Hannah Stires also picked up GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team selections, the conference office announced today.
In 2022, Andaya averaged 2.57 kills, 5.43 assists, and 1.92 digs a set. She added 77 blocks and 34 service aces to her season statistics. The senior setter/outside hitter from Ellensburg, Wash. broke the GNAC career triple-double record last season and holds the record with 12 career triple-doubles.
Along with being named to the 2022 GNAC All-Conference First Team, Andaya picked up AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and AVCA All-West Region First Team honors. This is Andaya's second straight Preseason All-Conference selection.
Last year, Daoud-Hebert put together a stellar season on her way to being named to the Preseason All-Conference team. A junior from Woodinville, Wash., Daoud-Hebert led all of Division II in blocks (160) and blocks per set (1.50) in her sophomore season on her way to being named to the D2CCA All-America Second Team. The middle blocker led the GNAC with a .387 hitting percentage which ranked 13th in Division II.
The team leader in kills (321) in 2022 is back with her second consecutive Preseason All-Conference Team nod. Kaufman, a senior outside hitter from Hayden, Id., recorded 288 digs, a team-high 35 service aces, 36 blocks, and 22 assists last season. She picked up AVCA All-America Honorable Mention, AVCA All-West Region First Team, and GNAC All-Conference First Team honors in 2022.
A junior from Nine Mile Falls, Wash., Stires returns to the GNAC Preseason All-Conference Team. In 2022, she led the Wildcats with 491 digs, averaging 4.59 per set, including a season-high 35 digs in the NCAA West Regional opening-round victory over Western Washington. She added 85 assists, eight kills, and four service aces. Stires was a GNAC All-Conference Honorable Mention in 2022.
The Wildcats enter the season with lofty expectations with a conference-high four selections to the Preseason All-Conference Team. Additionally, the 'Cats were predicted to win the GNAC earlier this week via the preseason coaches poll, in which the team received a unanimous first-place vote from all 10 member schools.
The 2023 campaign will formally kick off with the Yotes Classic Showcase in San Bernardino, Calif. on August 31 after an exhibition with Eastern Washington on August 22.
