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The University of Utah Athletics
Shoji and Anae Named to Pac-12 All-Star Team
4/14/2016 12:00 AM | Volleyball
April 14, 2016
SAN FRANCISCO - Utah sophomore outside hitter Adora Anae will be a part of the Pac-12 Conference All-Star Volleyball Team that will travel to China, the league office announced on Tuesday. Utah assistant coach Malia Shoji will join Anae as part of the Pac-12 coaching staff.
The tour is another milestone for Pac-12 Global, an initiative to promote goodwill and transformative life experiences through student-athlete exchanges and sport, and to showcase the Conference and its member institutions in China. Student-athlete tours have been organized in the sports of men's and women's basketball, as well as women's volleyball. Coaching clinics have also been organized with Pac-12 coaches sharing their knowledge of sport with Chinese groups both abroad in China and at member campuses, as well as hosting exhibition games with some of China's top teams in women's volleyball and women's soccer. This past November, the Conference hosted the Pac-12 China Game in Shanghai, becoming the first ever league - college or professional - to host a regular season basketball game in China.
"Any time that our student-athletes get the opportunity to play high-level international volleyball, the benefits are infinite," said Shoji. "Both Adora and myself are very excited to represent the University of Utah and the Pac-12. I am honored with the opportunity to work alongside such great coaches as Mike Sealy and Charita Stubbs. I look forward to working with and learning more from the two of them during this journey."
The 12-member all-star volleyball team includes a player from 11 of the Pac-12 institutions and will play six matches while in China from June 19-July 1 against Chinese club and national teams. In addition to the matches, the student-athletes will enjoy cultural and sightseeing visits to Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing. Previous all-star teams have made visits to the Great Wall, Forbidden City and other attractions.
Anae (Laie, Hawai'i" leads the way on the all-star team following her All-Pac-12 season as a sophomore. Anae was fourth in the Pac-12 with a 4.25 kills per set average, while ranking second in points per set (4.71). She is joined by honorable mention AVCA All-American Taylor Whittingham (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) of USC. All-Pac-12 performers Kalei Mau (Kahaluu, Hawai'l) of Arizona and Washington State's Kyra Holt (Hercules, Calif.) were also picked. Mau ranked third in the Pac-12 in kps (4.33) and pps (4.71), while Holt had a service aces average of 0.32 to rank fourth in the Pac-12 and the sixth-best kills average at 3.91.
Mau will be joined by teammate McKenzie Jacobson (Fresno, Calif.), as well as Arizona State's BreElle Bailey (Highland, Utah), California's Jenelle Jordan (Houston, Texas) and Colorado's Gabby Simpson (Colorado Springs, Colo.). Simpson was also ranked among the Conference's top hitters, averaging 3.41 kps and 3.97 pps, good for 10th- and ninth-best in the league, respectively.
The only freshman to be selected is Oregon's Sumeet Gill (Elk Grove, Calif.) after playing in 21 matches in the fall, while starting in 18 and averaging 0.77 blocks per set. Stanford's Kelsey Humphreys (Newport Beach, Calif.), UCLA's Reily Buechler (Del Mar, Calif.) and Washington's Bailey Tanner (San Clemente, Calif.) will also wear the Pac-12 uniform in China.
UCLA's Michael Sealy, who guided the Bruins to a NCAA Championship back in 2011, will lead the coaching staff in China. Along with Shoji, Sealy will also be joined by Arizona assistant coach Charita Stubbs.
Also making the trip to China is Emily Johnson who has been a member of the Arizona athletic training staff for eight years working with the women's volleyball and beach volleyball teams.
The Pac-12 has a storied history of women's volleyball with 14 NCAA titles to its credit, the most of any conference. League teams earned seven NCAA Tournament bids in 2015, marking the fifth-consecutive year at least seven Pac-12 teams earned bids.
Below is the schedule for the Pac-12 All-Star team with opponents being announced at a later date.
June 18 - Team meets in Los Angeles for practice
June 19 - Team departs Los Angeles for Shanghai
June 21-22 - Practice and sight-seeing in Shanghai
June 23-25 - Team will be in Nanjing; Games vs. Opponents (TBD)
June 26-July 1 - Team will be in Beijing; Sight-seeing and games vs. opponents (TBD)
July 1 - Return to the U.S.
Players Mentioned
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