Women's Volleyball 11/8/2018 9:40:00 AM Jordan Alves

Five Lady Tigers earn First-and Second-Team All-Conference at awards banquet

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Lady Tiger volleyball earned a slew of awards at tonight's Mid-South Conference banquet at the National Corvette Musuem.

Campbellsville, which finished runner-up in the regular season standings, has five Lady Tigers earn All-Conference honors. On the first team, the Lady Tigers lone selection was Maria Coelho. On the second team, CU was represented by Sonia Flendrich, Yelysaveta Sharkova, Paige Merrick and Jaimie Thompson.

Coelho, a senior from Brazil, is one of the most accomplished outside hitters in CU women's volleyball history with 1,343 kills to date. That number is good for sixth all time in Lady Tiger volleyball history, where she will likely stand when her career is finished. In her senior season, Coelho has led the Lady Tigers with 321 kills, including 22 vs. St. Francis on Aug. 31 for a season-high.

In her career, Coelho has won two MSC Player of the Week awards in her second season (2016) and also earned NCCAA All-American, MSC Second Team All-Conference, NCCAA Scholar Athlete and MSC Academic All-Conference honors last year.

Thompson, a junior from Owensboro, Ky., has had a stellar season for Campbellsville on the defensive side. She ranks No. 22 in the NAIA and second in the MSC with 644 digs, while her 5.8 digs per set is tops in the MSC and 16^thin the country. In her career, she's tallied 795 digs to date along with 34 service aces.

Sharkova, a junior transfer from Indian Hills Community College, is fourth on the team with 161 kills and her 75 blocks leads the Lady Tigers overall.

Two more newcomers have also had stellar first years with Campbellsville. Rookie's Paige Merrick and Sonia Flendrich earn second team nods as freshman.

Merrick, from Coxs Creek, Ky., tallied 1,046 assists this season – which is 38^thin the NAIA and second in the MSC. Her 60 assists vs. Shawnee State are the second-most in a regular season match this year for any student-athlete in the MSC. In addition, she's tallied 310 digs and recorded 18 double-doubles.

Flendrich has been a huge spark plug for Campbellsville this season with 238 kills and 223 digs as a freshman. She finished the regular season with a career-high 17 digs vs. Cumberland University on Oct. 2 and had 21 digs vs. Asbury and Georgetown for season-highs.

The Mid-South Conference named Lindsey Wilson's Grace Blomstedt and Sarah Cruz as the Co-Players of the Year, while Cruz also earned Freshman of the Year honors. The Libero of the Year is Tara Routiliffe from Cumberlands and Felicia Pace was named the Coach of the Year from Georgetown.

Campbellsville University (20-8, 11-2 MSC) earned the two-seeded and will play seventh-seeded Shawnee State University (13-19, 3-11 MSC) on Thursday night at 6 p.m. ET at Bowling Green High School in Bowling Green, Ky.

The Lady Tigers beat Shawnee State in both matches during the regular season. The 11 wins in conference play for Campbellsville is the most since 2013 when the Mid-South Conference had 10 teams in the league.

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Players Mentioned

#6 Maria Coelho: OH; 5' 10"; Graduate Student; Valadares, Brazil

#1 Jaimie Thompson: DS; 5' 6"; Junior; Owensboro, Ky.

#7 Sonia Flendrich: OH; 5' 9"; Freshman; Wroclaw, Poland

#5 Paige Merrick: S; 5' 8"; Freshman; Coxs Creek, Ky.

#8 Yelyzaveta Sharkova: OH/L; 5' 10"; Junior; Melitopol, Ukraine

Players Mentioned

#6 Maria Coelho
: 5' 10"; Graduate Student; Valadares, Brazil
: OH

#1 Jaimie Thompson
: 5' 6"; Junior; Owensboro, Ky.
: DS

#7 Sonia Flendrich
: 5' 9"; Freshman; Wroclaw, Poland
: OH

#5 Paige Merrick
: 5' 8"; Freshman; Coxs Creek, Ky.
: S

#8 Yelyzaveta Sharkova
: 5' 10"; Junior; Melitopol, Ukraine
: OH/L