| 2003 KCAC Honors
Alvarez, Salazar earn All-KCAC honors
McPherson College senior Erica Alvarez completed her Lady Bulldog volleyball career as a unanimous All-KCAC (Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference) first team selection in a recent vote of the conference’s coaches. Named to the honorable mention squad was senior Lisa Salazar, Alvarez’s high school and college teammate. Both are graduates of Rivera High School in Brownsville, Texas, and have played key roles in the resurgence of the Bulldog volleyball program during the past four years.
“Erica Alvarez and Lisa Salazar were very instrumental in our success this year,” said McPherson College head coach Nathalea Stephenson. ”They are the ones that have been here from their freshman year and have gone through all the tough times, and finally, because of their dedication to our team, have been honored by being named to the all conference teams.”
“This year both young ladies worked really hard to improve their skills and their leadership on the court and because of that the coaches in the conference recognized it and rewarded them.”
 Erica Alvarez finished the regular season ranked third in the KCAC in kills per game (3.37) and a conference high 388 kills. Erica also ranked ninth in serving with an average of 0.42 aces per game. Her 48 aces in 115 games saw her successful on 91.72% of her serves, which placed her third among the KCAC’s top ten servers. Alvarez was one of four unanimous selections to the 10-person first team.
Alvarez was named the KCAC’s “Co-Player of the Week” on October 20th, after leading McPherson to wins over Sterling and Bethany, and a second place finish in the St. Louis College of Pharmacy Invite. She received 2nd team all-conference recognition in volleyball last season in addition to receiving first team and honorable honors in basketball the past two years.
Scheduled for 2004 graduation from McPherson College in physical education/Spanish, Erica is the daughter of Jesus and Amalia Alvarez of Brownsville, Texas.
“Erica has led the team in kills and blocks all year long. She reads the ball well and loves to cut the ball or tip it to the side and cause the other team to scramble. We had talked about putting her on the outside but she does a great job of blocking for us and with that position missing a returning player we decided to keep her there for leadership.”
 Lisa Salazar ended her final regular season of collegiate competition ranked seventh in the KCAC in serving, with an average of 0.48 aces per game, and topped the conference’s top ten servers with only 12 service errors in 108 games, 52 aces, and a service percentage of 97.82%. Lisa also ranked fifth in defense with 522 total digs, an average of 4.83 per game.
“Lisa is a great digger and server. She loves to dig and this year set a school record for the most digs in a match with 32 against Bethel. She does a great job of reading the hitters and knowing where they are going to place the ball. She is also a very good server. Lisa is just a steady player. With both of these young ladies you knew they were going to play their hardest.”
Salazar was named to the all-tournament team at the conclusion of the St. Louis College of Pharmacy Invite and last spring was named to the All-KCAC softball honorable mention squad as McPherson College finished in a tie for first in the KCAC regular season race.
Lisa will graduate in the spring of 2004 from McPherson College with a degree in physical education/ESL. She is the daughter of Guadulupe Garcia of Brownsville, Texas.
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