Two MSU-Northern volleyball players touted

It was a magical season for the Montana State University-Northern volleyball team, and the awards are still rolling in.

Northern junior middle hitter Abby Nicholas was recently named to the 2012 AVCA NAIA All-Region Team. Nicholas, who ranked up 200-plus kills and over 100 blocks for a Skylights' team which made it all the way to the Frontier Conference championship match, was one just four players from the Frontier named to the First Team Northwest All Region Team. Five other Frontier players were named Honorable Mention.

Other Frontier spikers honored were, UGF's Kelsey Van Uden, Carroll's Ellie Graff and Kathleen Mulligan, Montana Tech's Korey Krumm and Kimmy Kavran, Lewis-Clark State's Niurka Toribio, Westminster's Emily Atkinson and Rocky Mountain College's Anna DeWald.

Nicholas and teammate Holly Cartwright, a junior libero from Havre, were also recently named Daktronics 2012 NAIA Scholar-Athletes. Only 408 volleyball players from the U.S. were selected.

In order to be nominated by an institution's head coach or sports information director, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved a junior academic status to qualify for this honor.

In other news around the Frontier Conference, Carroll College's Torrie Cahill was named Frontier Women's Basketball Player of the Week. The 5-11 senior guard from Miles City averaged 13.5 points, six rebounds, 2.5 assists and two steals. She was 7-of-19 from the field and 12-of-19 from the free-throw-line in wins over MSU-Northern and Walla Walla. Rocky Mountain College's Joel Barndt earned the men's honor. Barndt is a 6-foot-9 junior forward from Billings. Rocky downed NCAA Division II Willamette 83-59. Barndt had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

MSU-N's Jordan Bruursema and Devin Jackson were nominated for Player of the Week honors this week.