Haley Eckerman (Texas) has been tabbed the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Freshman of the Year, while three first-team selections headline the Big 12's seven AVCA All-America honorees.

Eckerman joins Carly Jenson (Iowa State) as the league's two second team honorees. Lisa Henning (Missouri) and Brianne Barker (Oklahoma) garnered third team recognition, while the league recorded seven honorable mention members.

Eckerman was the unanimous Big 12 Freshman of the Year. The Waterloo, Iowa-native was the only freshman in the league to finish 2011 in the top 10 for points, averaging 4.23 (sixth) in Big 12 play and 3.56 (sixth) in overall matches. She also ranked in the top five in kills with 3.76 (fifth) and service aces with 0.26 (fourth) in league matches this season. Eckerman was honored with Rookie of the Week five times and earned Player of the Week on two occasions for a total of seven Conference weekly awards this year. She ended the regular season with three-straight rookie honors.

Webster, the Big 12 Player of the Year, notched 307 kills and a .340 attack percentage to help the Longhorns earn the Big 12 title and the No. 1 national seed in the NCAA Championship. The sophomore was the only underclassmen in the top five for hitting percentage in overall matches, ranking fourth. She also finished 2011 in the top 10 in three categories for conference-only matches, including hitting percentage (.348, fourth), kills (58, ninth) and points (3.78, 10th).

Landwehr averaged a Big 12-best 11.77 assists per set in conference play in just her second season as setter for the Cyclones. The sophomore helped her squad to a 25-6 record and second-place finish in the Conference. This is her first AVCA All-America honor.

The Big 12's seven selections are the third-most for any conference. The league has had 99 AVCA All-America honorees, including 41 first-team members. This marks the fourth-straight season the league has had at least three first team members and is the eighth year with at least seven or more combined selections.

Each of the three AVCA All-America Teams is comprised of 14 athletes. The Division I AVCA National Player of the Year will be announced on Dec. 16 at the AVCA All-America/Players of the Year Banquet presented by Zamst. 

The selections were made by the AVCA Division I All-America Committee: Santiago Restrepo, Oklahoma; Sherry Dunbar, Indiana; Lisa Seifert, Southern Methodist; Claire Lessinger, Southern Methodist; Jennifer Greeny, Washington State; Craig Skinner, Kentucky; Jeff Nelson, New Mexico; Tonya Johnson, Georgia Tech. The AVCA Awards Chair is Dayton head volleyball coach Kelly Sheffield.

2011 AVCA ALL-AMERICA
FIRST TEAM