Erin Kirby Leads Three Cowgirls With All-MW Volleyball Honors

University of Wyoming senior Erin Kirby, junior Bridget Shanahan and sophomore Laura Beach have earned All-Mountain West honors in volleyball.

It's the first time since 2012 that three Cowgirls have been selected all-conference in the same season.

Wyoming head coach Chad Callihan said, "Having three player honored all-conference is exciting for Wyoming. It indicates that we had some great individual performers, but to garner three recipients' means we also had a successful season as a team."

Kirby became just the third player in Mountain West history and the second in school history to earn all-conference honors in four consecutive seasons. The senior middle blocker led the conference in hitting percentage at .422 and was seventh in blocks at 1.22 per set. She also finished her career with 714 total blocks, which is a school and Mountain West record. Kirby's career hitting percentage of .354 is first all-time in school history.

Shanahan, a junior outside hitter, earns her first career honor. She led the Cowgirls in kills at 3.33 per set, which ranked third in the conference. Shanahan led the team in kills 18 times throughout the season and tallied double figure kills in 24 matches.

Beach, a sophomore middle blocker, also earned her first All-Mountain West honor. She averaged 2.64 kills and 1.06 blocks per set. Beach ranked second in the league in hitting percentage at .406, behind only her teammate, Kirby.

The Wyoming Cowgirls finished the 2014 season with a 23-8 record.

In other special honors from the Mountain West, Colorado State senior Deedra Foss was named the Player of the Year. Boise State had two honorees. Sierra Nobley was the Freshman of the Year, while Kaitlyn Oliver was selected Newcomer of the Year. Coach of the Year honors went to UNLV's Cindy Fredrick.

Colorado State won the league title and is the only team from the Mountain West in post-season play.