Women's Volleyball | 11/14/2019
AVCA All-Region Honorees
ST. JOSEPH, Minn. – One week after being named the MIAC Player of the Year,
Hunter Weiss earned another player of the year honor – this time on a larger scale.
Weiss is the 2019 AVCA Central Region Player of the Year, it was announced Thursday morning. She is the first region player of the year in Saint Benedict volleyball history. She is joined on the All-Central Region First Team by twin sister
Madison Weiss, and junior setter
Katie Koch earned honorable mention honors.
This is the second straight all-region first team honor for both Hunter and Madison, and ensures that the duo will earn All-American honors for a second straight season. This is Koch's first all-region accolade.
Of the 14 athletes on the All-Central Region First Team, 11 hail from the MIAC. The league also swept the Central Region's large awards as St. Thomas first year Selena Levendoski won Region Freshman of the Year honors and Tommie head coach Thahn Pham is the region coach of the year. This marks the first time since 2013 that CSB has had three athletes earn all-region accolades
Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Hunter is seventh in the nation with a .409 hitting percentage, 50
th in kills per set (3.74) and in the top 80 nationally with 363 total kills. She has been one of the team's go-to hitters all season on the right side, and recorded a season-best 17 kills against Gustavus on Oct. 26. She recorded double-digit kills in all but two matches so far in her junior season, and also has 104 total blocks to her name.
Madison continues to lead all of Division III with 1.69 blocks per set, and is second with a .425 hitting percentage and 164 total blocks. She also has 325 total kills, and racked up a career-high 26 kills in a big MIAC win at St. Kate's in late September. She recorded double-digit kills 20 times this season and double-digit blocks in five different games.
Koch's junior season saw her reach the 2,000-assist milestone, and she is sixth in the nation in assists per set heading into Thursday's first round national tournament game. She has 1,057 assists – the second straight season she has surpassed 1,000 assists in a season – and is in the top 40 in the country in that category as well.
Thursday's all-region announcement comes hours before CSB makes its 2019 NCAA Tournament debut. The Bennies take on UW-Eau Claire at 12:30 p.m. in the first match of the St. Paul Regional, hosted by St. Thomas.
