Palazzo Named Volleyball Player of the Year

Nov. 16, 2006

Boone, N.C. - Sophomore Nicole Palazzo was selected the 2006 Southern Conference Volleyball Player of the Year the conference announced on Thursday night. In addition, Michelle Young was named SoCon Coach of the Year, and Palazzo, Chibuzo Aguocha, and Courtney Stewardson each earned first-team all-conference honors.

Palazzo led the league with a .382 hitting percentage and a 1.45 blocks average. She tied a Southern Conference record on October 28 when she tallied 17 total blocks against College of Charleston. The 17 total blocks ranks as the seventh-highest total in NCAA history, and is the second-highest total since the NCAA changed format to rally scoring in 2001. She was twice named the Southern Conference Player of the Week (October 2 and October 30), and was named the Southern Conference Player of the Month for both September and October.

Aguocha leads the Southern Conference in kills per game (4.53) and points per game (5.21). The junior was named the Southern Conference Player of the Week on August 26, and earned ECU Invitational All-Tournament Team and UCF Classic All-Tournament Team awards this season. With a 17-kill performance at College of Charleston on September 30, Aguocha became just the 13th player in Furman history to record 1,000 career kills.

Stewardson orchestrated a Furman offense that led the Southern Conference in efficiency, finishing the season ranked first in overall hitting percentage (.253) and hitting percentage in conference matches (.275). She also finished second in the Southern Conference with 12.46 assists per game. She was named Southern Conference Player of the Week on October 17.

Seven-year Furman head coach Michelle Young was named the Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. Young led the Paladins to a second place finish in the league standings and garnered the number two seed in the conference tournament. Furman ended the regular season with a 15-3 conference record.

Furman begins play at the 2006 Southern Conference Volleyball Championships on Friday at 4:30 when the second-seeded Paladins face seventh-seeded UNCG at the Holmes Convocation Center.