By Ben Rikard | @BenRikard

NEW ORLEANS, La. - UT Arlington senior hitter Stacey Koch was named to the All-Sun Belt Conference second team in an announcement made by the league on Thursday evening.

"I'm so happy for Stacey to get this type of recognition," UTA coach Diane Seymour said. "She has been a mainstay in our lineup for a long time and for her to be recognized as one of the top 16 players in the Sun Belt is recognition that she has worked hard for and deserves."

Koch has put together a stellar senior season in 2015 and enters this weekend's Sun Belt Conference Tournament ranking seventh in the SBC in attack percentage (.300) and ninth in kills per set (3.14).

She has seen a steady increase in production throughout her career, culminating this season with career highs in kills (330), kills per set (3.14), total blocks (99), block assists (94) and blocks per set (0.94).

A native of The Colony, Texas, Koch has reached double figures in kills 20 times this year and posted a career best 19 scores in a five-set match against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the season's opening weekend. She will enter the league tournament on a hot streak, averaging 3.15 kills per set in her last four matches, hitting .345 during that stretch.

It is the first postseason honor for Koch in her career, making her the 26th all-conference selection during Seymour's tenure.

Koch and the Mavericks will kick off the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Friday at 4:00 p.m. CT in Statesboro, Ga., as the No. 4 seed against No. 5 seed Little Rock. With a win, the Mavs will advance to the tournament semifinals to face the winner of No. 8 Georgia Southern and top-seeded Arkansas State on Saturday.