LEXINGTON, Ky. - Four Missouri Valley Conference volleyball student-athletes have been named to the AVCA All-Region Team as announced by the organization today.  UNI's Bre Payton and Krista DeGeest were named to the first team, while Missouri State's Carly Thomas and Wichita State's Emily Adney were honorable mention selections.

Krista DeGeest, UNI
Junior middle blocker Krista DeGeest led the team in blocks (165) and ranked second on the squad in kills (320).

Bre Payton, UNI
Payton helped her team win a third consecutive MVC championship in 2011 and was named as the MVC Tournament MVP for her outstanding play, in addition to her being recognized as the MVC Player of the Year, her third consecutive year to win the honor. She led her team in assists in 2011 with well over 1,200, averaging 1.91 kills per set and leading her team with a hitting percentage of .351. She was named as an AVCA Second-Team All-American last season.

Emily Adney, Wichita State
Adney, a junior from Golden, Colo., averaged a team-leading 3.41 kills and 1.54 digs per set while hitting .260. She also led the Shockers with 27 solo blocks this season. Adney was also named to the Missouri Valley Conference All-Conference First Team and MVC All-Tournament Team this season. Adney received AVCA All-Region honorable mention recognition in 2010 as well.

Carly Thomas, Missouri State
A first-team all-Missouri Valley Conference selection, Thomas led the conference with 11.23 assists per set and posted 22 assist-dig double-doubles on the season, the most for an MSU player since 1990. The setter posted 10 kills, 48 assists and 18 digs in the regular season finale at Illinois State, becoming the first MSU player with a triple-double in those categories since 2006, and had consecutive matches of at least 50 assists and 20 digs earlier this season, just the 11th and 12th such performances in school history.

Thomas ranks 24th nationally in assists through Dec. 4 and led all MVC setters with 3.11 digs per set in 2011. She was the MVC Player of the Week Sept. 26, Oct. 10 and Nov. 7 of this season.