July 28, 2007

SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Peach Belt Conference announced the 2006 volleyball All-Conference team at the awards banquet last night on the eve of the conference tournament in Florence. USC Upstate senior Mandy Rupert was honored as an All-Conference member by the coaches of the PBC. Armstrong Atlantic State's Traci Knuth was named the Player of the Year for the second straight season while Augusta State's Jessica Howard was named the Freshman of the Year. USC Aiken's Will Condon was named the PBC Coach of the Year.

Rupert has been no stranger to earning awards in her career as a member of the Spartans volleyball team. She has now been named to the PBC All-Conference volleyball team three times, and as a freshman was named the Peach Belt Conference Co-Freshman of the Year. She was also named PBC Player of the Week six times, three of them coming this year. Rupert finished the season ranked very high among the Peach Belt in several statistical categories. She finished first in kills averaging 4.48 kills per game, third in hitting percentage hitting at a .292 clip, and tenth in aces averaging .40 aces per game. Rupert also finished her career at USC Upstate as the all-time leader in attacks (4567), kills (1740), and aces (223), and finished second all-time in career digs (1499).

Peach Belt Conference 2006 All-Conference Volleyball Team
Cheryl Barcas, USC Aiken
Mandy Gerolstein, USC Aiken
Jenna Kaiser, Francis Marion
Traci Knuth, Armstrong Atlantic State
Sarah Lobstein, Augusta State
Lezlie Logan, Francis Marion
Mandy Rupert, USC Upstate
Kay Stewart, Lander
Jessica Strader, Francis Marion
Rindy Vidovich, Armstrong Atlantic State
Player of the Year: Traci Knuth, Armstrong Atlantic State
Freshman of the Year: Jessica Howard, Augusta State
Coach of the Year: Will Condon, USC Aiken