Monday, December 10, 2007
UNT volleyball’s Engel wins service aces title
North Texas outside hitter Brooke Engel became the first volleyball player in the history of the NCAA to repeat as the national service ace champion this week.
The senior topped Long Island’s Martina Wagner for a second straight season for the national lead. Engel landed 104 aces in 120 games for an average of 0.87 in 2006-07.
Wagner, who held the national lead until her NCAA Tournament match on Saturday against St. Johns, finished the year with 109 aces for an average of 0.86 per game.
Engel and Wagner faced off this year, with the Mean Green senior taking the spotlight. Engel won the serving battle four aces to two, and NT won the war in the 3-0 sweep.
The New Braunfels, Texas native led the country with 0.98 aces last year, which is the most by any player in the country since 2003 and the third most in the modern scoring era (2001-present).
For her career, Engel leaves North Texas with every service ace record. She owns the single game (12 aces), season (123 aces) and career (237 aces) ace marks, and ranks 18th in NCAA history with a career average of .622 aces per game.
Only four players in NCAA history have had more than Engel’s 12 aces in a five-game match.
Source: UNT
