Colorado State senior setter Deedra Foss was named the 2014 Mountain West Player of the Year Monday, the conference announced. Foss becomes the eighth Colorado State player in the 15-year history of the league to garner player of the year honors.

“It’s such an honor, and it’s pretty awesome but it was definitely something I couldn’t have done without my team, so I have to thank them too.” Foss said, “But there’s a lot of good players in this conference so to get that was an honor.”

A native of McKenna, Wash., Foss finished the regular season leading the league in assists per set (12.11) in conference matches. She also averaged 2.15 digs and 0.85 blocks per set, and recorded six double-doubles. The Rams hit .273 over the 18-match MW season with Foss running the offense.

 She joins former Rams Angela Knopf (2000-01), Melissa Courtney (2003-04), Mekana Barnes (2007), Danielle Minch (2009-10), Katelyn Steffan (2011), Dana Cranston (2012) and Samantha Peters (2013) in earning the conference’s top honor.

“It’s pretty cool to be a part of such a great tradition,” Foss said. “It’s great to be able to carry on a tradition like that and continue to make CSU history.”

Along with Foss, senior outside hitter Marlee Reynolds, senior middle blocker Kelsey Snider and opposite hitter Adrianna Culbert were named to the All-Mountain West first team. Junior libero Jaime Colaizzi was one of six players to receive an Honorable Mention honors.

“I don’t think the awards make a difference. We’re a team, we play as a unit and we all do our best so it doesn’t really make a difference.” Foss said, “Our main focus right now is beating DU and we can’t look past that, they’re a very good team and we’re just focusing on how to beat them right now.”

Reynolds, who originally hails from Dalhart, Texas, ranked fifth in the MW for kills (3.21 per set) and eighth for points (3.58). Her .243 hitting percentage ranked first among all outside hitters, and her 0.69 blocks per set were also first among outside hitters. She was the only outside hitter to average at least 3.00 kills, 0.50 blocks and hit above .200.

Snider, a native of Westminister, Colo., was the only player in the MW to rank in the top 10 in the MW for points (third), hitting (fifth), kills (T-10th), blocks (10th) and service aces (T-4th). She earned MW Player of the Week honors in September after helping CSU to a 4-0 week, including a win vs. No. 9 BYU.

Culbert, a junior from Delton, Michigan, was the only player in the MW to rank in the top 10 for hitting and digs; she also ranked 17th for kills per set (2.69). In October, she was named the MW Player of the Week and the espnW National Player of the Week.

The five selections are the most represented by the Rams since 2009. CSU and UNLV had the most selections in the MW.

CSU will continue its season this week, hosting first- and second-round NCAA tournament matches at Moby Arena. The Rams will face Denver Friday at 6:30 p.m. More details, including ticket information, can be found here. 

Collegian Sports Editor Keegan Pope can be reached at kpope@collegian.com and on Twitter @ByKeeganPope.