Xu named regional volleyball coach of the year
By The Emporia Gazette (Contact)
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Bing Xu can add AVCA South Regional coach of the year to his list of awards and accomplishments this season. Xu was also named the MIAA coach of the year last week after leading Emporia State to its first MIAA championship in school history.
The Hornets finished 34-4 this season, the best winning percentage in school history. The Hornets went 18-2 in the MIAA, finishing two games ahead of Truman for the league title. The Hornets received an automatic bid to the South Central regional, making their third appearance in four seasons under Xu. Emporia State hosted the regional and was the No. 1 seed.
Emporia State advanced to the regional championship for the first time in school history, losing to Truman on Sunday in straight sets to end the season.
Xu won his 100th career match on Saturday against West Texas A&M in the regional semifinal. Xu is 100-37 in his four years at Emporia State and has the highest winning percentage of any coach in school history. He also moved into third place on the all-time wins list at the school.
Hornet place three on all-region team
Three ESU volleyball players made the All-South Central Region team, announced Wednesday. Arica Shepard made the team as an outside hitter for the second straight season and MIAA player of the year Ting Liu joined her on the first team. Hannah Carter earned an honorable mention.
Shepard finished the season with 473 kills and averaged 3.75 kills per set.
Liu, a sophomore setter, was named MIAA Specialist of the Week five times this season. She ended the year with 1,534 assists, averaging 12.17 per set.
Carter, a senior middle hitter, led the Hornets in hitting percentage this season finishing with .326 hitting on 301 total kills. She led the team in blocks with 145.