7 from Regions VIII, IX tabbed Academic All-Americans

Seven players from Region VIII or Region IX were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America Team. A total of 22 players comprised the CSC NCAA Division III Academic All-America Team.

First Team
Sydnei Avery (3.92 GPA in sports management/marketing), Aurora senior outside
Adriana Rodriguez (3.96, business), North Park sophomore outside

Second Team
Abby Fregien (3.99, kinesiology), Wisconsin-Oshkosh sophomore libero

Third Team
Arianna Barrett (3.76, communication sciences & disorders), Wisconsin-Eau Claire graduate opposite
Abby Glanzer (3.68, health sciences), Northwestern sophomore outside
Payton Lowrey (3.94, chemistry), Grinnell senior libero
Marylyn Schroyer (3.64, business administration & marketing), Northwestern senior libero

Calvin senior outside Heidi Westra (3.72, economics/business marketing) was named CSC’s Member of the Year for Division III.

-Ricky Nelson

CSAC, United East to merge (updated)

The Colonial States Athletic Conference and United East Conference have agreed to merge. The merger is intended to occur ahead of the 2023-24 academic year.

The CSAC and UEC currently have 10 and nine members, respectively, with women’s volleyball programs. However, before the start of the 2023-24 season, the UEC is set to lose Morrisville State to the North Atlantic Conference and Wells to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, dropping its membership to seven.

The UEC, the former North Eastern Athletic Conference, went through a rebrand in August 2021.

The footprint of the CSAC’s and UEC’s new conference, which has not proceeded past the agreement phase, will span from Northeast Pennsylvania (Keystone) and North-central Pennsylvania (Penn College) to Southern Maryland (St. Mary’s) among the 17 institutions. Keystone to St. Mary’s (Md.) is 314 miles.

UPDATE (6/22/23): The new conference will compete under the UEC brand in a divisional model this season. The old CSAC and UEC will play previously formed schedules in 2023 with the winners meeting in a crossover championship that will determine the new league’s automatic qualifier.

-Ricky Nelson

Cheatham-Carlone promoted to head coach at North Central (Ill.)

North Central (Ill.) announced Sydney Cheatham-Carlone as its new head coach. Cheatham-Carlone was most recently an assistant coach for both women’s and men’s volleyball at NCC. Cheatham-Carlone takes over for Kyle Exline, who had helmed both the women’s and men’s programs and will remain as the men’s head coach.

In other news Cazenovia, a New York institution founded in 1824, will close after the Spring 2023 semester, reducing the North Atlantic Conference from 10 to nine women’s volleyball programs.

-Ricky Nelson

Crown seeking new coach

Add Crown to the list of Region VIII and Region IX institutions accepting applications for a new head coach. Former graduate assistant Celia Blattner is now listed as the interim coach on Crown’s staff directory instead of Brittany Strange, who had helmed the Polars since 2019.

Crown joins Region VIII/IX coaching vacancies at Carroll, Lawrence, Maranatha Baptist and St. Scholastica.

Potential head coaching searches include Concordia Wisconsin (head coach has interim tag) and Marian (men’s coach pulled double duty on the women’s side for the final 10 matches of 2022).

UPDATE (12/15/22): Concordia Wisconsin posted its head coach opening on multiple websites.

-Ricky Nelson

2022 final stats: Regions VIII/IX home to 9 national leaders

Below are the Region VIII and Region IX players and teams among the top 10 in the final 2022 statistics. National leaders not from Regions VIII/IX are in italics.

Aces/Set
1. Max Ludlow, Northern Vermont-Johnson 1.17
1. Eastern Nazarene 4.20

Aces
1. McKenna McCool, Lasell 92
8. KellyAnn Sotiros, Wisconsin-Whitewater 77
1. Rivier 411

Assists/Set
1. Grace Ward, Transylvania 11.20
5. Sam Buckley, Washington-St. Louis 10.57
9. Charlie Nelson, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 10.31
1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 13.85
3. Transylvania 12.91
7. Northwestern 12.57

Assists
1. Grace Ward, Transylvania 1,310
2. Sam Buckley, Washington-St. Louis 1,289
5. Grace Michalske, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 1,242
6. Maddy Maahs, Coe 1,234
10. Charlie Nelson, Wisconsin-Eau Claire 1,144
1. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 1,631
3. Northwestern 1,622
4. Washington-St. Louis 1,610
7. Wisconsin-Whitewater 1,555
8. Transylvania 1,510
9. Millikin 1,507

Blocks/Set
1. Rory Light, Cornell 1.51
1. Trinity (Texas) 2.79
2. Cornell 2.57
6. Northwestern 2.43

Blocks
1. Paige Havel, St. Thomas 153
3. Rory Light, Cornell 142
4. Kiera Brown, Northwestern 137
6. Marley Aune, Northwestern 129
1. Trinity (Texas) 343
2. Northwestern 313.5
5. Wisconsin-Whitewater 271
6. Cornell 259.5

Digs/Set
1. Taylor Herrmann, Piedmont 6.74
8. Payton Lowrey, Grinnell 6.18
9. Marylyn Schroyer, Northwestern 6.10
1. Saint Vincent 22.82
10. Webster 19.49

Digs
1. Lindsey Hirano, NYU 807
3. Marylyn Schroyer, Northwestern 768
5. Abby Fregien, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 749
10. Emma Peterson, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 654
1. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 2,617
6. Northwestern 2,327
10. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 2,278

Hitting Percentage
1. Shaylen Perry, Anderson .453
6. Allison Feigenbaum, Wartburg .422
1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps .314
3. Northwestern .267
7. Transylvania .255
8. Washington-St. Louis .254

Opponent Hitting Percentage
1. Rivier .062

Kills/Set
1. Grace Parker, Randolph-Macon 5.36
2. Adriana Rodriguez, North Park 5.12
7. Ashley Kopp, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 4.45
1. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 14.72
3. Transylvania 13.79
5. Northwestern 13.71

Kills
1. Adriana Rodriguez, North Park 589
2. Ashley Kopp, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 574
7. Carissa Sundholm, Wisconsin-Oshkosh 470
10. Abby Glanzer, Northwestern 461
1. Wisconsin-Oshkosh 1,779
2. Northwestern 1,768
5. Washington-St. Louis 1,746
7. Wisconsin-Whitewater 1,666
9. Millikin 1,629
10. Wisconsin-Stevens Point 1,626

Points/Set
1. Grace Parker, Randolph-Macon 5.99
2. Adriana Rodriguez, North Park 5.70
6. Ashley Kopp, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 5.15

Points
1. Ashley Kopp, Wisconsin-Stevens Point 664.5
2. Adriana Rodriguez, North Park 655
8. Abby Glanzer, Northwestern 544

Triple-Doubles
1. Morgan Ilsley, Huntingdon 11
3. Casey Taff, Wisconsin-Superior 6
5. Abigail Hoffmann, Edgewood 5
7. Emerson Kracht, Wartburg 4
9. Grace Kieseelhorst, Martin Luther 3
9. Alex McMath, Alverno 3

Winning Percentage
1. Juniata .971
4. Northwestern .919
10. Gustavus Adolphus .839

-Ricky Nelson