Kentucky middle blocker Nicole Britenriker has been named to All-Region honorable mention by the American Volleyball Coaches? Association it was announced today.

Britenriker earned All-Southeastern Conference second team honors in her first season at Kentucky after transferring from Ohio State last year and enjoyed a tremendous junior season with the Wildcats. She led the team with 15 double-doubles this year, 10 of which came against SEC foes, including four straight to open league play.

The Cincinnati native set a new career-high with 25 kills against Syracuse and made a personal-best 46 attacks in UK?s 3-2 win over then No. 18 Tennessee. Her 17 digs in the regular season finale against Cincinnati were a new season-high and she tallied seven blocks on three occasions this year. Britenriker finished with 20 kills, 15 digs, four blocks and posted a season-best .567 hitting percentage in UK?s NCAA tournament first-round win over No. 20 Ohio last week.

Britenriker led the Wildcats with 3.62 kills per game and was tops on the team with 4.28 points per game. She had a team-high 916 attacks and hit .253 for the season. Britenriker ranked second on the team with 317 digs for an average of 2.64 per game, while her 120 total blocks (1.00 bpg) are also second on the team. She also added 35 assists and 13 service aces for the Wildcats this season.

The Wildcats finished the 2006 season with a 19-12 overall record. Kentucky finished fourth in the final SEC standings with an 11-9 mark and recorded the most overall victories, most SEC wins, best league finish and first NCAA Tournament victory since the 1992 season.