May 3, 2006
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Redshirt senior opposite hitter Shaun Powell added another award to his lengthy list of honors this season when the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced today its 16th annual AVCA All-America awards for men's volleyball. Powell was selected a Division I-II First-Team All-American for a senior campaign in which he finished fourth nationally in kills per game and points per game, and 14th in aces per game. He becomes the 10th Mason athlete to garner All-American honors and the first since Mike Mauro in 1994.
The Toronto, Canada native averaged 5.22 kills, 6.04 points, 1.68 digs, 0.83 blocks and 0.36 aces per game while hitting .346 for the season. He had 21 matches with at least 15 kills in 2006 and was named the Uvaldo Acosta Memorial EIVA Player of the Year and First-Team EIVA All-East after leading the Patriots to a 22-5 regular season record and No. 2 seed in the EIVA Championships with an 11-1 record in conference play during the regular season, including a perfect 12-0 mark at home. Despite being upset by St. Francis (Pa.) in the semifinals on April 27, Powell was the lone George Mason player named to the EIVA All-Championship Team for his performance in the Patriots' only match in the championships. He led the team with 26 kills and 28 points, while adding an ace, five digs and a block.
During his five years in the program, Powell ranks first all-time during the rally-scoring era in kills (1,537) and aces (102). He also ranks second in digs (512) and fourth in blocks (267). In 2005, he set a single-season rally-scoring era record with 477 kills and his 44 aces that year rank second all-time. His 470 kills this season and 32 service aces rank second and fifth, respectively, in the rally-scoring era, while his 151 digs tie the fifth highest mark of all-time. Powell has recorded four of the top five single-match kill totals in the rally-scoring era, with the top overall mark of 39 coming on Jan. 21, 2005 in a win over IPFW. He recorded his high mark of 28 this season in a three-game victory at Lewis on Feb. 4.
The awards presentation will occur at the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship Banquet at the Mt. Nittany Club on the campus of Penn State University in University Park, Pa., on Wednesday, May 3, 2006. The selections were made by the AVCA Men's Volleyball All-America Committee: chairperson Sean Byron (Rutgers-Newark); Jeff Campbell (Cal State Northridge); Fred Chao (George Mason); Shane Davis (Loyola-Chicago); Pete Hanson (Ohio State); Mark Pavlik (Penn State); John Speraw (UC Irvine); Joel Walton (Ball State) and Joe Wortmann (Pacific).
