National champion Scorpions greeted by fans on return home

About 40 fans of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College volleyball team came to the Brownsville South Padre International Airport late Sunday night to greet the new 2011 NAIA volleyball national champions.

The Scorpions captured the national crown with a 3-1 victory over Concordia University (Calif.) at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux Falls, Iowa, late Saturday night.

The championship was the first for the Scorpions in any sport. UTB-TSC finished the year 32-2.

After spending a week in Sioux City, members of the team traveled 100 miles from Sioux City through snow-covered roads to Omaha to catch the first leg of the flight to Brownsville. They changed planes in Houston before the flight to Brownsville.

Among the well-wishers was Texas Southmost College trustee David Oliveira, UTB-TSC Vice President for Student Affairs Hilda Silva, other administrators, parents, student-athletes from soccer and baseball, and parents and relatives of players.

Because fall semester final exams begin Tuesday, a public recognition of the new national champions will be held at a later date.

On Monday, Scorpion middle blocker Ana Guerra, who led the NAIA in attack percentage and blocks per set, was among the 14 student-athletes named to the first team of the 2011 Tachikara NAIA all-america volleyball team.

Also receiving honors were outside hitter Danica Markovic, named to the second team; and setter Amber Brooks and libero Paula Barros, both named to the honorable mention team.

All four had been named previously to the Red River Athletic Conference first team.

The four were key members of the championship team.

Guerra, a junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was named to the second team in 2010. She was No. 1 in the NAIA in attack percentage with a .411 mark, with 347 kills out of 674 attempts with 70 errors for the year.

She was also No. 1 nationally in blocks per set with a 1.7 average. She had 69 solo blocks and 128 assisted blocks for a total of 197 blocks in the 116 sets she played in. In the national tournament, she led tournament teams with an average of 2.1 blocks, sending back 44 balls in 21 sets.

Markovic, a sophomore from Subotica, Serbia, was named to the all-america first team in 2010. She was named most valuable player at the NAIA national tournament.

She had 385 kills out of 995 swings with 118 errors for the year, averaging 3.32 kills per set. She also posted 53 service aces, 359 digs, four solo blocks and 33 assisted blocks for the year.

Brooks, a senior from Alvin, was the quarterback for the team as the setter. She had 1,250 assists, 76 aces, and 288 digs, averaging 10.78 assists per set. Her aces per set average of 0,.66 was No. 1 nationally.

Barros, a junior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, was the team's libero. She had 590 digs for a 5.3 average per set, and led the Red River Athletic Conference in that category.