Nov. 22, 2011

Fullerton, Calif. - Cal State Fullerton Junior Kayla Neto earned her third career first-team nod and teammates Gabrielle Dewberry and Leah Maurer were named honorable mentions for the first time as the Big West Conference announced its 2011 all-conference team Tuesday morning.

The Titans finished tied for fourth in the Big West Conference with an 8-8 record and have one more game on the 2011 slate this Friday with No. 3 Hawaii in Titan Gym.

The six-rotation player Neto was the Titans' best all-around athlete racking up 430 kills (4.02 per set), 22 aces, 360 digs (3.36 per set) and 44 blocks (0.41 per set) through last Friday's Big West finale. She currently ranks second in kills and points behind the league's player of the year, Cal Poly's Jennifer Keddy. One more kill on Friday will move Neto's season performance into Fullerton's single-season Top 10 for kills.

The Clarksburg, Calif., native has posted double-digits in kills 25 times in 28 matches and reached the 20-kill plateau seven times. She recorded double digits in kills and digs in the same match 19 times and recorded a career-best 30 digs on Sept. 24 against UC Santa Barbara.

Nationally, Neto ranks 43rd in kills per set and 52nd in points per set.

Dewberry emerged as the Titans' full-time libero a third of the way through the season and solidified the Titans defense and passing game. She played in all 107 of the Titans' set and posted a team-high 439 digs (5th in the Big West Conference). Her dig totals currently rank ninth all-time in a single season at Cal State Fullerton.

On Oct. 21 at UC Santa Barbara, the junior from Greenwood Village, Col., recorded a 33 digs, setting a career high and joining former Titan Cami Croteau with the eighth-best single match dig performance in school history.

In all Dewberry has 20 matches with with double-digit digs - 19 of them coming over the last 20 matches. She had 15 or-more digs 16 times, 20-plus eight times and had 30-or-more scoops twice in Big West action.

Maurer also put up a well rounded season for the Titans, leading the team with 79 blocks, adding the second-most kills (266) and aces (18), while tacking on 116 digs.

The senior from Mission, Kan., reached double figures in kills 11 times in 2011 and blasted a career-high 18 two times in Big West action. She had three-or-more blocks 12 times, had five-plus seven times and set career highs on the road at both Arizona and Montana with seven blocks. Of her 79 blocks, 22 of them were of the solo variety.

In her two-year Titan career Maurer missed playing in just two sets and failed to record a block in just four of her 60 matches in a Titan uniform.