LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Campbellsville University placed three players on the Mid-South Conference Volleyball First Team, two were named Honorable Mention, and five made the MSC Academic Team, as announced Thursday night at the conference's annual banquet.
Rinata Aisena, Laura DeGear and Kelly Moyer were tapped for First Team honors and Kira Stewart and Daiane Souza were Honorable Mention. Tara Robertson, sophomore, Knoxville, Tenn.; Lexis Lloyd, junior, Palm City Fla.; Stewart, Aisena and Souza received academic recognition.
In all, 62 Mid-South Conference volleyball student-athletes earned Academic All MSC honors.
In order to be nominated by an institution, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.25 on a 4.0 scale and must have achieved at least sophomore academic status.
Aisena, a junior outside hitter from Latvia, was seventh in the conference in hitting percentage (.314), 12th in kills per set (2.7), 12th in service aces and eighth in blocks per set. She had 285 kills and reached double-figure kills in 14 of her 30 matches. She scored 388 points, highest on the team.
DeGear, a senior from Big Rapids, Mich, had a season-high 23 kills against Bethel University and sported a .279 hitting percentage. She had double-figure kills in 12 of her 27 matches and totaled 252 kills and 69 blocks. She was credited with 303 points.
Moyer, a junior middle blocker from LaGrange, Ky., accounted for 235 kills with a .223 hitting percentage, 58 blocks, 103 digs and 301 points.
Souza, a junior right-side hitter from Sao Paulo, Brazil, accumulated 268 kills with a .232 hitting percentage and 298 points.
Stewart, a freshman eligibility-wise and defensive specialist/setter from Ballwin, Mo., averaged 8.33 assists per set (966 total), along with 193 digs and 23 service aces. She had 30 or more assists in 14 of the 32 matches in which she played.
Campbellsville, 24-9 (11-4 MSC), squares off Friday against Shawnee State, 22-12 (10-4 MSC), at 1 p.m.
Georgetown College's Rachel Eubanks and coach Nick Griffin, Lindsey Wilson College's Courtney Doyle and University of the Cumberlands' Abigail Dundon won special recognition.
Eubanks was selected Mid-South Volleyball Player of the Year and Griffin was picked by his peers as the MSC Coach of the Year.
The Georgetown duo led the Tigers to a 31-3 regular season and a perfect 15-0 mark in MSC play.
Georgetown is the top-seed in this weekend's conference tournament at the Mid-American Sports Center in Louisville.
Eubanks ranked in the conference's top-10 in three statistical categories during the season, including fourth in kills per set (3.1) and fifth in kills (347). She was ninth in hitting percentage (.293). Eubanks earned Mid-South Conference Player of the Week twice during the season.
Griffin earns his second MSC Coach of the Year award after leading the Tigers to 2012 regular season crown. He was also the 2009 conference coach of the year.
Doyle was picked as the MSC Freshman of the Year after helping the Blue Raiders to a 25-12 overall record and a 12-3 conference mark. Doyle was third in the MSC this season in kills (372) and kills per set (3.4).
Dundon was selected as the Mid-South Conference Volleyball Champions of Character recipient. She earned the award based on her academic and athletic achievement, campus and community leadership, future ambition and demonstration of the five core character values of the NAIA.
A total of 14 women earned All Mid-South Conference First Team while another 14 women were named all-conference honorable mention as voted on by the conference coaches. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.
2012 Mid-South Conference Volleyball First Team
Name | School |
Rinata Aisena | Campbellsville University |
Sarah Anderson | Lindsey Wilson College |
Laura DeGear | Campbellsville University |
Courtney Doyle | Lindsey Wilson College |
Rachel Eubanks | Georgetown College |
Caraline Maher | Georgetown College |
Kelly Moyer | Campbellsville University |
Alex Pohl | Shawnee State University |
Stacey Sebald | University of the Cumberlands |
Erin Sherman | University of Rio Grande |
Whitney Smith | University of Rio Grande |
Andrea Taylor | Lindsey Wilson College |
Allyson Wilbourn | Georgetown College |
Kirsti Yates | Shawnee State University |
2012 Mid-South Conference Volleyball Honorable Mention
Name | School |
Mackenzie Gass | Cumberland University |
Kristi Hager | Lindsey Wilson College |
Chelsea Hendrix | University of the Cumberlands |
Rebecca Just | St. Catharine College |
Lindsey Martindale | Georgetown College |
Rebekah Moore | Georgetown College |
Kailey Moorhead | Lindsey Wilson College |
Jasmine Morrow | Bluefield College |
Corri Muha | Georgetown College |
Randa Murphy | St. Catharine College |
Allie Southard | St. Catharine College |
Daiane Souza | Campbellsville University |
Kira Stewart | Campbellsville University |
Paige Zelich | Shawnee State University |
The Mid-South Conference Volleyball Tournament begins tomorrow with four quarterfinal matches beginning at 9 a.m. ET at Mid-American Sports Center.