SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Senior outside hitter Kathya Garcia and junior libero Anna Dalla Vecchia became the first all-West Coast Conference honorees for the University of San Francisco volleyball program in three years Monday, with Garcia being named to the 2019 all-WCC first team and Dalla Vecchia earning honorable mention accolades.
 
Garcia is the first Don to be named to the all-WCC first team in five years, since Valentina Zaloznik earned her third such award in 2014. She posted a 300-300 season this fall, totaling 364 kills and 317 digs. It was the first 300-kills season by a USF player since 2016. She had double-digit kills in 20 of 29 matches and tallied 11 double-doubles, with a monster 20-20 performance in the Dons' five-set win over UC Riverside on Sept. 6 with a career-high 26 kills and 20 digs.
 
"Kathya contributed to our successes on both the offensive and defensive sides of the net," said San Francisco head coach Frank Lavrisha. "She carried a huge load as our 'go-to' hitter and most frequent receiver of serves. Kathya stepped up in another phase of her game in becoming one of our better diggers. She led our efforts with her actions on the court."
 
Garcia added 32 service aces, 31 blocks and 28 assists this season as one of the conference's most complete players. She finished her two-year career on The Hilltop as a 500-500 player, with 613 career kills and 574 digs. She also totaled 57 aces, 60 blocks and 45 assists.
 
Dalla Vecchia had an even better season in 2019 than her first on The Hilltop last year. She totaled a team-best 469 digs – the eighth-most in a single season at USF. She added 22 aces and 95 assists – both second on the team. She had double-figure digs in all but two matches, including 20 or more seven times. Twice she collected a career-high 29 digs – versus Pacific on Oct. 1 and again versus Gonzaga on Oct. 19.
 
"Anna is our stabilizer and provides the platform for our team to build upon," said Lavrisha. "Her ball control on service reception and defense led us to compete within the WCC at a new, improved competitive level. Anna led us with her consistent performance."
 
Dalla Vecchia's 905 career digs are already 13th all-time at San Francisco, and she still has another season to go. Another 400-digs season next year could put her within the Dons' all-time top-five. She also has 51 career aces and 208 career assists.
 
BYU senior All-American McKenna Miller was voted the 2019 WCC Player of the Year while senior libero Mary Lake secured WCC Libero (formerly Defensive Player) of the Year honors for the third straight year. San Diego senior Anna Newsome collected inaugural Setter of the Year honors, while teammate opposite hitter Grace Frohling earned WCC Freshman of the Year accolades for the Toreros. USD's Jennifer Petrie was selected as the Coach of the Year for the sixth time. All five major individual awards – including the all-conference and all-freshman teams – were voted on solely by the WCC's 10 head coaches.
 
San Francisco finished the 2019 campaign at 8-21 overall and 4-14 in the WCC. It was the second year in a row the Dons increased their conference wins total. USF played in five five-set matches and held leads in five other matches that went four sets. San Francisco was within five points of its opponent in 34 of 69 sets that it dropped, showing an increased level of competitiveness while playing in a conference that sent three teams to the postseason this year.
 
2019 WCC Volleyball Major Honors
Player of the Year: McKenna Miller, Sr., OH – BYU
Libero of the Year: Mary Lake, Sr., LIB – BYU
Setter of the Year: Anna Newsome, Sr., S – San Diego
Freshman of the Year: Grace Frohling, Fr., OPP – San Diego
Coach of the Year: Jennifer Petrie, San Diego
 
2019 All-WCC Volleyball First Team

Name	School	Yr.	Pos.
Whitney Bower	BYU	Fr.	S
Kennedy Eschenberg	BYU	Jr.	MB
Thana Fayad	San Diego	Sr.	OH
Grace Frohling	San Diego	Fr.	OPP
Hannah Frohling	Pepperdine	Sr.	OH
Kathya Garcia	San Francisco	Sr.	OH
Heather Gneiting	BYU	So.	MB
Megan Jacobsen	San Diego	Sr.	MB
Mary Lake	BYU	Sr.	L
McKenna Miller	BYU	Sr.	OH
Anna Newsome	San Diego	Sr.	S
Taylor Odom	Santa Clara	Sr.	MB
Tess Reid	Loyola Marymount	Sr.	S
Shannon Scully	Pepperdine	Jr.	OH
Savannah Slattery	Loyola Marymount	Sr.	OH
Tarah Wylie	Pepperdine	Sr.	MB

2019 All-WCC Volleyball Second Team

Name	School	Yr.	Pos.
Rachel Ahrens	Pepperdine	So.	OH/OPP
Shayla Hoeft	Portland	Sr.	MB
Katie Lukes	San Diego	So.	OH
Riley Patterson	Pacific	So.	OPP
Julia Sangiacomo	Santa Clara	Fr.	OH
Jadyn Tubbs	Pacific	So.	L

HONORABLE MENTION
Gonzaga: Sarah Penner
Pepperdine: Hana Lishman
Portland: Liz Reich
Saint Mary's: Breyan Ashley, Alexa "Crash" Parker, Aubrey Pitts
San Diego: Annie Benbow, Lauren Turner
San Francisco: Anna Dalla Vecchia
Santa Clara: Allison Kantor, Michelle Shaffer

2019 WCC All-Freshmen Team

Name	School	Pos.
Whitney Bower	BYU	S
Grace Frohling	San Diego	OPP
Kate Grimmer	BYU	OPP
Julia Sangiacomo	Santa Clara	OH
Lauren Turner	San Diego	MB
Emme Walters	LMU	MB
Isabel Zelaya	Pepperdine	S/OPP