MASON NAMED NCAC COACH OF THE YEAR BY PEERS

Terri Mason

Head coach Terri Mason was named the 2004 North Coast Athletic Conference Coach of the Year as voted by the coaches according to the announcement made by the league office on Wednesday and The College of Wooster placed three players on the all-conference team in all, highlighted by first-team selections Tiffany Rice (Canton, Ohio / Canton McKinley) and Ashley Quisenberry (Springfield, Ohio / Springfield Catholic Central).

Mason capped off a spectacular season for the Scots by earning her first postseason distinction as a collegiate coach. Under her guidance, Wooster went 21-9 overall and 6-2 in the NCAC, its best marks since the 1984 season. The Scots finished third behind Hiram College and Wittenberg University, making it to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2001 and only the second time since 1994. In Mason's five years with the program, Wooster has finished above .500 every year except 2003 (17-18), accumulating a school-record 90 wins and two 20-win seasons (2002, 2004).

Named to the second-team in 2003, Rice earned her second all-conference honor in 2004 after posting league-highs of 450 kills and 4.33 kills per game. She accumulated the second-highest kill total in school history and moved into second-place on Wooster's all-time list with 1209 kills, just 29 behind first. The junior recorded double-digit kills totals in all but three of the Scots 30 matches, including a dozen matches with 15 or more. Rice came on strong during the Scots' push to the NCAC Tournament, averaging 4.73 kills and 3.58 digs per game over the last seven matches of the season, including season-highs of 28 kills and 19 digs against Case Western Reserve University.

Quisenberry, earning her first postseason award, was one of Wooster's most versatile players, leading the team with 118 blocks and 37 service aces and finishing among the top-three in kills (235) and digs (433). She led the league in blocks with 1.16 per game and moved into third-place on the Scots' all-time list with 337 career rejections. Quisenberry posted a team-high eight double-doubles (kills-digs) on the year, including 12 kills and 33 digs in Wooster's four-game victory over Denison University, only the third win for the program against the Big Red since 1989.

Rounding out the Scots' all-conference selections, freshman setter Heather Wolff (Mansfield, Ohio / Madison Comprehensive) earned second-team honors. Wolff was passed up for Newcomer of the Year despite being the only freshman on either first- or second-teams. The freshman sensation finished third in the conference in setting with 11.12 assists per game and tallied the second-highest assist total in school history with 1168. Wolff also averaged 0.74 kills, 0.51 blocks, and 2.51 digs per match and finished second on the team to Quisenberry with 32 aces.