WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Mandy Rockwell, arguably the most talented player in the history of the Whitman College volleyball program, has earned all-Northwest Conference honors for the fourth time in four seasons.
Rockwell, a senior from Selah (Wash.) High School, also was awarded her fourth consecutive Most Valuable Player award in a recent vote of her Whitman teammates. Rockwell led Whitman in kills and digs in each of her four seasons, and she held or shared the team-lead in service aces her last three years.
"It has been genuine pleasure to coach such a gifted athlete and wonderful person," Whitman coach Dean Snider said. "She gave us a complete effort every moment she was on the floor."
Rockwell, a 5-foot-6 outside hitter, capped her senior season by earning second-team all-conference honors after leading Whitman to its second straight winning season. She and teammate Heather Cushing, a sophomore setter from Davis High School, Yakima, Wash., led the conference in serving, while Rockwell finished third in digs and fifth in kills.
Snider said that had Whitman placed higher in the final standings of the 10-team conference, there is a good chance Rockwell would have earned first-team all-conference honors. Four of the six first-team spots went to players from George Fox University and the University of Puget Sound, schools that placed first and second in the conference. Whitman finished sixth, just two matches out of fourth place.
Rockwell made the all-conference first-team at the end of her junior season, when she led the conference in both kills and digs per game, and topped the nation (NAIA) in digs per game. She received second-team honors as a sophomore and honorable mention recognition as a freshman.
In her four-year collegiate career, Rockwell amassed 1,509 digs, 1,201 kills and 167 service aces, each of which are career records for Whitman. She also holds the single-season school records for digs (528), kills (384) and service aces (59), marks she established during her junior season.
Rockwell, a biology major at Whitman, is the daughter of Connie and Bruce Rockwell of Selah, Wash.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information, (509) 527-5902
Email Address: holden@whitman.edu