University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
Women's Basketball & Elif Unlu Honored at WNC Awards Banquet
04.23.2007 | Women's Volleyball
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The UNC Asheville Athletics Department picked up two awards at the Western North Carolina Awards Banquet Sunday night at the Grove Park Inn. Senior volleyball player Elif Unlu was awarded the H.H. Zeugner Award for the best College Female Athlete, while the UNC Asheville women's basketball team earned the Houser Shoe Award for the best female college team in WNC.
Unlu enjoyed a superb volleyball career at UNC Asheville. She was Honorable Mention All-American following her junior and senior years. Unlu made the All-East Region team as a junior and senior and helped lead the Bulldog program to three appearances in the Big South Conference championship game. She completed her career The past two years had her named as a first team all-conference performer. Unlu led the Bulldogs to a 10-4 conference mark and a second place finish in the Big South Tournament this past season. She played in 126 games this season posting a conference leading 512 kills (4.38 per game) and 368 digs (3.15 per game) while hitting .227 for the year.
A native of Izmir, Turkey, Unlu finished her UNC Asheville career fourth in career kills with 1,709 and sixth in career digs with 1,427. She is also third in attempts with 4,546, fifth in service aces with 139, and ninth in attack percentage at .231. In addition, Unlu has done a great job in the classroom, as well. She has twice been named to the Big South All-Academic team for volleyball and was an all-region selection for academics as a junior.
The UNC Asheville women's basketball team won their first ever Big South Conference championship in 2007. The Bulldogs finished with a 21-12 record and won the most games by an Asheville program in 23 years. It was the most victories by Betsy Blose's club since the school went Division I. Asheville advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.
The Bulldogs were led in the tournament by senior forward Amanda Elder who was named Big South Tournament MVP. Elder posted two doubles-doubles in the first two games and then scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the finals. She was joined on the all-tournament team by senior guard Brittany Hendley. Freshman forward Kyla Jones was named Big South Rookie of the Year.
UNC Asheville had two other teams nominated on Sunday. The 2006 Big South Conference champion baseball squad was nominated for the Jake Dalton Award for the top male college team. That award went to the national championship Appalachian State football team. The Big South Conference champion women's soccer squad from this past fall was nominated in the same category as the women's basketball team.
