ABILENE -- ACU seniors Amanda Slate, Michelle Bernhardt and Lindsey Martin -- the trio that led the Wildcat volleyball program to unprecedented heights over the last four seasons - have each been named first team NCAA Division II all-Southwest Region by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association.

Tuesday's announcement follows last week's announcement that the three Wildcats had been named first team all-region by Daktronics.  The Daktronics team is voted on by the region's sports information directors, while the AVCA team is voted on by the region's head coaches.  Slate is on the AVCA all-region team for the second time (2004), while Martin and Bernhardt are first teamers for the first time.  Both Martin and Bernhardt were honorable mention all-region picks in 2004.  All three players will now move on to the all-America ballot.

The best season in ACU volleyball history came to an end last Sunday with a 3-0 loss to No. 1-ranked Nebraska-Kearney in the Southwest Region tournament in Kearney, Neb.  The Lopers (36-1) will host the NCAA Division II national tournament, Dec. 1-3.

The loss to the nation's top-ranked team snapped ACU's school-record 31-match winning streak and put an end to the Wildcats' season at 31-4.  No previous ACU volleyball team had ever won an NCAA post-season match, much less advanced to the regional championship match.

Bernhardt, Slate and Martin -- along with fellow senior standout Ashlee Motola -- led ACU to back-to-back Lone Star Conference titles (2004-05), two straight LSC South Division crowns (2004-05), two straight appearances in the regional tournament (2004-05), and a four-year record of 102-37, including 59-12 the last two seasons.  They were also the key players in the 34-match home winning streak the Wildcats will carry into the 2006 season.

They are also believed to be the first quartet in NCAA Division II volleyball history to play their entire careers together and finish with a 5,000-assist setter (Martin), a 2,000-kill hitter (Bernhardt), a 1,500-kill hitter (Slate) and a 1,000-kill hitter (Motola).

Bernhardt finishes her career with 2,128 kills, which is 20th on the NCAA Division II career list, second on the all-time Lone Star Conference list and first in ACU history.  Kearney's all-America middle blocker, Gudmundson, heads to the national tournament with 2,131 career kills, which is 19th on the all-time list.  Bernhardt finishes seventh on the Division II career list for total attacks with 5,451.  Bernhardt also finished fourth on ACU's all-time digs list with 1,501.

Martin finishes her career with 5,793 assists, which is good for 18th on the all-time NCAA Division II list and second in LSC history.  She passed former Texas Woman's setter Sarah Steinmetz (5,790 career assists) in both categories in the match against Kearney.  Martin is far and away the all-time assist leader in ACU history with almost 1,500 more assists than previous record-holder Brittney Binder (ACU head coach Brek Horn's younger sister), who had 4,296 assists from 1996-99.

Slate -- the two-time LSC South Division MVP -- finishes her career with 1,544 kills, which is third in ACU history behind Bernhardt and Linda Evans (1,560 from 1989-92).  She also finished second on the school's all-time blocks list with 500 total blocks, second to Evans, the LSC record-holder with 676 total blocks.