ASU’s Howard, Flagler’s Beale Receive Volleyball All-America Honors

Augusta State’s Jessica Howard was named a second-team All-American while Flagler’s Katie Beale was an honorable mention All-American as two organizations released their teams following the 2009 season. Howard was named second team by Daktronics while Beale received her honor from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

Beale is the first Flagler volleyball player to be named to an All-AVCA team. A senior outside hitter from Stuart, Fla., Beale has also earned AVCA and Daktronics All-Southeast Region honors.

Beale leads the team with 506 kills and her 488 digs are just seven shy of setting a school single-season record. She leads the team with 21 double-doubles. She earned Southeast Region All-Tournament honors and was an All-Peach Belt Conference first team selection. Beale also earned PBC Player of the Week honors earlier in the season.

Howard becomes the first player in Jaguar Volleyball history to earn All-America honors and the first Peach Belt Conference student-athlete to be named to the Daktronics-sponsored squad since 2004.

Howard led the Jaguars to the second-winningest season in school history (22-12) and to the highest league finish (third place) since 1995. She became eligible for All-American consideration after earning first-team, All-Southeast Region honors on November 24.

A senior from Athens, Ga., Howard became the first Jaguar to be tabbed

PBC Player-of-the-Year on Nov. 15. She led the league in kills with 524 (4.09 kpg.) and in blocks with 139 (1.09 bpg.) while ranking third in hitting percentage (.318).

A two-time PBC Player-of-the-Week selection in 2009, Howard registered a season-high and career-high 26 kills at USC Aiken on Oct. 1. She posted double-digit kills in 29 matches, including the last 17 in a row, and eclipsed the 20-kill mark eight times, including five times in conference play. In her career, she amassed 1,803 career kills and 548 career blocks. Both figures rank third all-time in PBC annals.