Nov. 13, 2005

West Texas A&M University volleyball player Rachel Altman was named the Lone Star Conference All-Tournament Team, announced Saturday night after the conclusion of the LSC Tournament.

Abilene Christian University defeated the University of Central Oklahoma, 3-0, in the title match Saturday night at Abilene, as the 11th-ranked Wildcats won their second-straight LSC Championship, after WTAMU had won the previous five.

ACU gets the league's automatic berth into the NCAA-II Southwest Regional Tournament, while UCO and WTAMU are hopeful of at-large invitations into the eight-team regional bracket when the field is announced late Sunday night.

Altman, a 5-10 junior outside hitter from Dallas, Texas, tallied a total of 33 kills in WTAMU's two tournament matches, hitting .210, including .326 in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Midwestern State University. She also added 29 digs and 11 blocks, recording eight in Friday's semifinal loss to UCO.

For the season, Altman is the only Lady Buff to play in all 125 games of all 36 matches. Altman is second on the team in kills and service aces with 3.39 kpg and 31 aces, third in digs with 2.84 dpg and fourth in blocks with 0.78 bpg. For her career, Altman recently surpassed the 1,000 kills mark, as she now has 1,106 (a career average of 2.98 kpg).

Altman was WTAMU's lone representative on the All-Tournament team, as she was joined by LSC Tournament MVP Michelle Bernhart from ACU, along with Amanda Slate, Abbie Lowry and Lindsey Martin from ACU. UCO's Stephanie Ball and Kim Morgal, as well as Carley Messmer from Texas Woman's University.

WTAMU missed last year's LSC Tournament for the first time in school history, in addition to missing the NCAA-II Tournament for the first time since 1993. The Lady Buffs entered the weekend ranked No. 6 in the Southwest Region Rankings, while ACU was No. 3 and UCO at No. 7.

Stay tuned to www.gobuffsgo.com or to www.ncaasports.com for the Regional Tournament field announcement.

-WT-