Women's Volleyball Earns Six AVCA All-American Selections
LEXINGTON, Ky-The Juniata women's volleyball team (32-0) has earned six American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American selections in Division III for their performances this season. The six players who made All-America were the same six who made All-Region. Outside hitter Kennedy Christy, middle hitter Mackenzie Coley, setter Olivia Foley, and libero Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez earned first-team honors, while outside hitter Audrey Muth and opposite hitter Lily Podolan earned honorable mentions.
Christy's first-team selection is the first in her career, honoring what has been a great season for her and the Eagles. Christy recently earned First Team All-Conference and All-Region selections, and has totaled 230 kills, 37 aces, 24 blocks, and 281.5 points in 78 sets played so far this season. Her record in kills placed her second in the conference, only behind Coley, as she also earned two Landmark Athlete of the Week Awards on September 3 and October 28.
Coley places on the All-America First Team for the third consecutive season after recently placing on the AVCA All-Region First Team and the Landmark Conference First Team this year. She has led Division III in hitting percentage (.432) and totaled 296 kills, 47 blocks, and 335.5 points in 78 sets played so far this year. In addition to her All-Conference and All-Region selection, earlier this season Coley surpassed 1,000 career kills and earned one Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week Award (Oct. 28).
Foley's selection to the First Team is the second consecutive of her career, after placing on the second team in her first two seasons. Recently, she has been showered with accolades such as All-Landmark Conference and All-Region First Team selections to go along with being the Landmark Conference Player of the Year and the AVCA Region V Player of the Year. These selections confirmed that Foley has been an All-Conference, All-Region, and All-American volleyball player in each of her four collegiate seasons. She has consistently ranked first in Division III in assists per set (12.03) with 878 assists on the season so far, playing a big role in Juniata's number one ranking in the nation as a team in assists per set (13.54). Early on this year Foley passed 4,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs. She was also named the AVCA National Player of the Week on September 10, the same day that she earned Landmark Athlete of the Week honors.
Rousset-Hernandez joins Christy with her AVCA All-America First Team selection being the first in her career, as Rousset-Hernandez was placed on the second team in her two prior seasons. Earlier in the year she was honored as Specialist of the Year in the Landmark Conference for the third time in her career, and she also made the All-Conference and All-Region first teams. She ranks 21st in the nation in aces per set (.71) in a season where she became the all-time Landmark Conference leader in aces (219+). Earlier this year, she also surpassed 2,000 career digs and earned two Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week Awards on September 3 and September 16.
Muth has been a consistent source of kills this year for the Eagles, ranking seventh in the conference in hitting percentage. Her recognition as an All-American honorable mention comes after being placed on the All-American Third Team last year. Like her teammates, Muth earned First Team All-Conference and All-Region selections this year. She has totaled 188 kills, 22 blocks, and 204 points in 82 sets played, averaging 2.29 kills per set on that seventh in the conference and well-distinguished .293 hitting percentage.
Podolan's All-American honorable mention is the third in her career. She recently earned her second career selection to the All-Region V First Team and her second career selection to the All-Landmark Conference Second Team after being placed on the first team as a sophomore. With 216 total kills, 25 blocks, and 67 digs, Podolan has totaled 231 points in 83 sets played this season. She ranked eighth in the conference in hitting percentage (.275) and 11th in the conference in points per set (2.8) in a season where she surpassed 1,000 career kills and earned one Landmark Athlete of the Week Award (Sept. 16).
This season, the six Eagles from Juniata led the country as the team with the most All-American selections in Division III women's volleyball. The four first-team selections represent the most in a year in program history.
The undefeated Eagles will take their talents to an NCAA Elite Eight matchup on Wednesday, December 4, in Salem, Virginia, against the University of La Verne, a team ranked 13th in the AVCA coaches poll.