C-USA Volleyball Players Earn All-Midwest Region Honors

Jennifer Wittenburg

Nine conference players claim AVCA All-Midwest honors, the most in C-USA history

CHICAGO – Nine Conference USA volleyball players, the most in league history, were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Midwest Region Team, it was announced Wednesday by the AVCA. Cincinnati’s BONITA WISE, DePaul’s KARA JAKUSZ, Houston’s JENNIFER WITTENBERG, Louisville’s LESLEY DRURY and SONJA PERCAN, Marquette’s MEGHAN DEVINE, Saint Louis’ COLLEEN HUNTER, and South Florida’s MICHELLE COLLIER and ALESSANDRA DOMINGOS were all named to the All-Region Team.

Cincinnati’s Becky Stahl also earned Midwest Region Freshman of the Year. This season, she led the Bearcats to their fourth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 2001, losing to Ohio State, 3-1 in the second round. She finished the season ranked third in the conference with .49 service aces per game and sixth in kills with 4.21 per game. She earned the league’s first-team honors, as well as being named the C-USA Freshman of the Year.

Cincinnati’s Bonita Wise claimed her second All-Midwest Region honor in three seasons after leading the team in blocks (1.12 pg) and third in kills (3.30 pg). She was also named to the All-Conference First Team.

After leading the Blue Demons to their first ever C-USA Volleyball Tournament Championship title, Jakusz was named to her second All-Midwest Region Team. She finished first in the conference with 13.81 assists per game, while also claiming the career record. She recorded 6,411 assists in her four-year career to break the previous mark of 5,180 held by Liz Egasti of Marquette (1997-00). DePaul finished the season with a 24-9 record and advancing to their second NCAA Tournament. The Blue Demons fell in the first round to Northern Iowa, 3-0.

For the second consecutive year, Houston’s Wittenburg was named All-Region. She established a new school single-season record with 646 kills and finished first in the conference. She also tied the UH single-match record with 37 kills in back-to-back matches on consecutive nights against DePaul and Marquette. She was a three-time conference Player of the Week honoree and recognized as the C-USA Player of the Year, becoming the first Cougar to win the award.

Louisville’s Percan and Drury each earned their first All-Region selection after leading the Cardinals to an NCAA appearance and 15th 20-plus win season. Percan finished fourth in the conference with 4.91 kills per game. Drury was one of the conference’s most accurate hitters, leading the Cardinals with a.342 hitting percentage. Louisville returned to the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in school history and advanced to the second round before falling to Pacific, 3-1.

Marquette’s Devine paced the Golden Eagles in attack percentage (.288) and blocks with 106, while ranking second in service aces with 38.

Saint Louis’ Hunter ranked third in Conference USA in kills (5.11) and sixth in blocks (1.08). She became the first Billiken player to post two seasons with at least 500 kills and ranked fourth on Saint Louis’ all-time kills list with 1,597.

Collier earned her third AVCA All-Midwest Region honor, while Domingos claimed her first this year. Collier finished the season ranked second in the league with 5.26 kills per game and second in service aces (.55 pg). Domingos was named C-USA Setter of the Year, leading the squad and finishing third in the league with 13.01 assists.