Nov. 18, 2014
DENTON - After a third place regular season finish in its second year as a member of Conference USA, North Texas was well represented on the lists of all-conference teams. Four players, freshman
Amanda Chamberlain, sophomore
Amy Henard, junior
Carnae Dillard, and senior
Hanna Forst were all recognized this week by a vote of the conference member coaches (All-Conference) and sports information directors (All-Academic).
"What an honor for all of our players to be recognized by the conference as some of the best players in the league," head coach
Andrew Palileo commented.
Dillard, arguably one of the top offensive performers in the country, was rewarded for her season-long stellar performance by being named to the first team. The four time Conference USA offensive player of the week currently ranks third in the NCAA in kills per set (5.42), points per set (5.83), and total kills (580). She leads Conference USA in all three of those categories, as well as two others additionally (13.07 attacks per set and 1,398 total attacks).
"Carnae has been the stud all season for us," Palileo said. "At the same time, Hanna has been our stabilizer this year."
As a senior, Forst made sure to leave it all on the court, treating each game this season like it would be her last. As a reward for her consistent hard work, Forst was named second team all-conference. On a team like North Texas that has a star athlete such as Dillard at outside hitter, her counterpart can seemingly go unnoticed at times. In the shadow of Dillard, Forst quietly recorded 315 kills on 914 attacks, both of which are second highest on the team. She also contributed 209 digs, good for third behind
Eboni Godfrey and Dillard.
"I'm especially excited for Hanna because she gets over looked sometimes, but she has been a really steady contributer all season long," Palileo added.
For the second straight year, North Texas had a member of its freshman class recieve an all-freshman honor. Chamberlain, who came on especially strong as the team dove deeper into conference play, finished the regular season as one of the most solid contributers of the Mean Green nine member freshman class. Behind only fellow freshman
Holly Milam by the narrowest of margins, Chamberlain recorded 78 total blocks, proving to be a force at the net in 2014. She also finished with a .313 hitting percentage, second only to setter
Amy Henard.
"[In her first year] Amanda continued to get better all season and hopefully with this recognition she will strive to improve even more as she continues to develop," Palileo said.
Rounding out the spectacular awards showing for North Texas, Henard became the first Mean Green player to be named to the Conference USA All-Academic team. The two time C-USA setter of the week was recognized for both her fantastic effort on the court and in the classroom. Henard, a biology major and chemistry minor, excelled with a 3.82 overall GPA while also moving into the top five on the North Texas all-time career assists list with 2,192.
For the first time in North Texas' short history within Conference USA, the Mean Green placed a member on each of the conference's award teams. Now Dillard and the Mean Green turn their focus towards the next challenge, a tournament championship and likely along with it, a member on the all-tournament team; something North Texas failed to achieve last season.
