Dec. 8, 1999
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the third time in five years, the Notre Dame volleyball team had four of its members named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-District I First Team. Senior Mary Leffers (Tampa, Fla.), juniors Denise Boylan (Lisle, Ill.) and Christi Girton (Muncie, Ind.) and sophomore Kristy Kreher (Birmingham, Mich.) were among the 12 players selected to the team and are now among 96 division I players eligible for AVCA All-America honors, which will be announced on December 15.
Leffers is making her second appearance on the all-district team after receiving the same honor as a sophomore in 1997. A 6-4 middle blocker, Leffers was named the 1999 BIG EAST Player of the Year and earned conference player-of-the-week honors three times. She finished the season and her four-year career with the Irish as the career leader in hitting percentage with a .304 mark and is currently ranked 18th nationally in hitting percentage (.373) and fifth in blocks per game (1.76) in 1999.
Boylan is also making her second appearance on the all-district team after a one-year hiatus. The 6-1 setter led the Irish in assists per game with a 11.92 mark and in service aces with 0.37 per game. Boylan joined Leffers on this year’s all-BIG EAST first team and moved up to second in the Notre Dame career record books in both total assists (3,291) and assist average (11.84).
Girton and Kreher are both first time honorees to the AVCA all-district first team. Girton, an outside hitter, and Kreher, an opposite, earned All-BIG EAST second team honors earlier this season. Girton led the team in kills per game (3.83), while both Kreher (.316) and Girton (.302) finished their 1999 seasons by hitting over .300.
Notre Dame (20-9 overall) was one of only three schools in the AVCA’s eight districts to have four or more of its players named to the all-district team. In 1999, the Irish claimed its eighth straight NCAA Tournament bid, falling to Ohio State in the first round. During the BIG EAST regular season, Notre Dame finished a perfect 11-0 and claimed the regular season conference title for the fourth time in five years.
AVCA All-District I First Team
Mary Leffers, Notre Dame
Denise Boylan, Notre Dame
Christi Girton, Notre Dame
Kristy Kreher, Notre Dame
Kiran Gill, Georgetown
Amy Schweitzer, Georgetown
Chanice Harris, Connecticut
Enkelejda Katiraj, Hofstra
Alma Kovaci, Temple
Jill Meyers, Massachusetts
Julia Schlecht, Rhode Island
Christie Wilson, Rhode Island