SEATTLE – When she first arrived at Seattle Pacific late in the summer of 2008, no one was expecting perfection from Anna Herold as she adjusted to a new position on the volleyball court.
 
Yet, it was during a few flawless minutes of an early-season practice session when Herold – who made her mark as a setter in high school – realized she could make a successful switch to libero.
 
“We were passing, and I got served 10 balls in a row,” Herold recalled, “and I passed each one of them perfect. And I was like, 'Whoa!'
 
“At that point, it was pretty apparent that I could fit that role.”
 
Herold fit that role, all right. Now, several school records and numerous awards later, she has capped  her four-year Falcons career with a second straight All-American recognition from the American Volleyball Coaches Association, earning another honorable mention spot on the list that was released earlier this week.
 
She is Seattle Pacific's second two-time volleyball All-American. Alyssa Given (2006 and 2007) is the other.
 
“You never go into a season having a goal of certain awards at the end of the year,” said Herold (Bothell, Wash./Shorecrest HS). “If they come, they come; if they don't, they don't. As long as you win, the right things will happen at the end.”
 
SPU did plenty of winning during Herold's four years in maroon, especially the past two seasons, going 26-3 in 2010 and 21-7 in 2011. The Falcons captured the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title outright this fall at 15-3 after sharing it with Western Washington in 2010. They also advanced to the NCAA Division II West Regionals for an unprecedented third year in a row.
 
Helping them accomplish all of that was Herold, with a defensive prowess unmatched by anyone in the 26-year history of the Seattle Pacific program:
 

• She came up with 2,316 career digs, well beyond the previous school record of 1,552. Matter of fact, she left that mark behind midway through her junior season in 2010.
• Herold owns the three highest single-season dig totals in SPU history. She had 614 this year, tying the record she set as a sophomore in 2009.
• Her digs-per-game average of 6.20 this fall broke her own record of 6.03 set as a freshman in 2008. It also put her No. 6 in all of D-2 for 2011.
• In her final match – a first-round West Regional contest against Brigham Young-Hawaii on Nov. 17 that went to four games – Herold had 46 digs, breaking the single-match record of 45 that had stood since 2007 when Torii Mount came up with that many.
• Herold wound up No. 2 on the all-time GNAC career digs list. The only player ahead of her is Western Washington's Courtney Schneider, who had 2,695 from 2004-07.

 
“Defense is just a mentality of keeping that ball off the floor,” Herold said. “You're into it wholeheartedly, and if not, it's not going to work.

"I have to pay respect to our block – you can't play defense behind a non-existent block or a poor block," she added, "and over the four years, our block has gotten better.”
 
But Herold's game went beyond all of those digs.
 
“The thing that does not get recorded in the stats is what a skilled passer she is,” Falcons head coach Chris Johnson said after one of Herold's multiple postseason awards this fall. “She has been the cornerstone of our serve receive for four years. When you add that skill to her defense, I believe that it makes her one of the best liberos in the country.”
 
Coaches and school athletics officials near and far agreed. This year alone, Herold was voted All-GNAC first team (coaches), Daktronics All-West Region first team (sports information directors), AVCA All-Region (coaches) and now, AVCA All-American (coaches).
 
Quite an accomplishment for someone who strong suit was as a setter – a position to which Herold is eager to return as she pursues playing opportunities outside of college.
 
“I had no idea what to expect, but it came easily to me,” she said. “It's a position where just having a lot of experience and knowledge of the game helped me a lot coming into that position in college.
 
“It turned out much better than I thought it would.”