Three Bruins Named All-Americans
December 16, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
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LEXINGTON, Ky. - Junior Taylor Formico was named Third Team All-American on Wednesday, as announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association, while juniors Jordan Anderson and Claire Felix received Honorable Mention All-American accolades.
It is the second career All-American award for Formico, and her first as a Bruin, after earning an Honorable Mention nod at UC Santa Barbara in 2012. Anderson also picked up her second career All-American award, and first as a Bruin, after earning an Honorable Mention plaudit at West Virginia in 2014, while Felix's accolade was her first.
The three All-American awards for UCLA are tied for the most in school history. The Bruins also had three honorees in 2006, 1992, 1989 and 1988. The Bruins have earned 50 All-American awards in the program's history and at least one in five straight seasons.
Formico was recognized as the Pac-12 Conference Libero of the Year this season, also earning AVCA All-Pacific South Region First Team and All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention accolades. Formico started all 33 matches at libero and was tops on the squad with 4.50 digs per set, ranking third among conference liberos. She had 30 double-figure digs matches, including nine in a row to end the season, surpassing 20 on 10 occasions. Her season best came at Arizona on Nov. 22 when she posted a UCLA career high and conference-best 35 digs. The junior added 28 digs in an upset win at #1 USC on Nov. 25 and recorded her first career double-double with 20 digs and 10 assists against Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 5. Versus Michigan, Formico became the 23rd Bruin to reach 1,000 career digs, and enters her senior campaign with 1,026, tying her for 19th in UCLA history. Formico's 554 digs this season were the sixth most in a single year in school history. She also had 21 service aces to tie for the team lead, adding 120 assists.
Anderson was named AVCA First Team All-Pacific South Region and All-Pac-12 First Team after leading the Bruins with 4.38 kills and 4.66 points per set. She was also third with 18 block solos and added 0.91 digs and 0.40 blocks per set. The junior ranked second among conference players in kps and fourth in pps, also ranking in the Top 20 nationally in kps and Top 50 in pps. Anderson had double figures in kills in a team-best 30 of 33 matches, getting to at least 20 on nine occasions. Her season high in kills was 25, coming at Oregon on Oct. 23 and against Utah on Nov. 6. Anderson led the team in kills in 25 matches and added a 24-kill contest at Arizona State (Nov. 20) and a 20-kill effort versus San Diego (Sept. 11). She posted a season-best hitting percentage of .515 at California on Sept. 27 and was named the Most Valuable Player at the UCSB and Hawai'i Tournaments.
Felix was First Team All-Pacific South Region and All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention, leading all Bruin hitters with a .370 hitting percentage and also ranking first with 28 block solos. She was second with 0.97 blocks per set, adding 2.01 kills, 2.65 points and 0.53 digs per set to go with five service aces. Felix recorded at least four kills and one or no errors in 14 contests, posting eight double-figure kills contests, including four of her last six matches. The junior ended the regular season with 16 kills against Stanford on Nov. 27 and then set a new career high with 17 kills versus Michigan with a .500 hitting percentage. Felix twice hit .667 in a match this season. Defensively, she had 10 matches with at least five blocks, setting a season high and tying a career best with seven versus Michigan.
