Six Women's Volleyball Eagles Earn AVCA All-Region Honors as Foley and Pavlik Earn Major Awards
TOWSON, Md. -Just days after seven Eagles on the women's volleyball team were chosen to earn All-Landmark Conference selection, six of them have been placed on the AVCA All-Region V team. 14 players were chosen for each All-Region Team across the country, each with six additional honorable mentions. Addtionally, a Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Coach of the Year were selected for each region. Juniata led the way as the only team to have six players make their All-Region Team in the nation.
The six Eagles who earned First Team All-Region selection were outside hitter Kennedy Christy, middle hitter Mackenzie Coley, setter Olivia Foley, outside hitter Audrey Muth, opposite hitter Lily Podolan, and libero Kiona Sky Rousset-Hernandez.
Additionally, Foley earned the AVCA Region 5 Player of the Year Award while head coach Heather Pavlik earned Region 5Coach of the Year.
Christy has established herself as one of the top outside hitters in D3 across the country this year, and her selection to the All-Region Team is the first in her career. She was second in the Landmark Conference in kills, only behind her teammate Coley, totaling 216 on the season so far in 71 sets played. Christy has also made 35 aces, 176 digs, 21 blocks, and totaled 264 points in just 71 sets played. She earned two Landmark Athlete of the Week Awards on September 3 and October 28, and was just recently named to the Landmark Conference First Team.
Coley's placement on the All-Region Team is the third selection of her career. Given that Coley is the D3 leader in hitting percentage (.428), it was hard to imagine an All-Region V Team without her. She has led the conference in kills per set (3.63) and points per set (4.12), totaling 258 kills, 41 blocks, and 292.5 points on the season so far. Coley has also surpassed 1,000 career kills this year and been selected for one Landmark Athlete of the Week Award (Oct. 28).
Not only does Juniata have the Division III leader in hitting percentage, but we also have the Division III leader in assists in Olivia Foley, who averages 11.94 per set. Foley is clearly also a huge contributor to the team's #1 ranking in the nation for assists per set (13.47). Early in the year Foley was selected as the AVCA National Player of the Week on September 10. More recently, after earning the Player of the Year award, being placed on the First Team in the Landmark Conference, and going four for four in her career as an All-Landmark Conference player, she earned the AVCA Player of the Year award, was placed on the First Team All-Region V, and has now gone four for four in in her career as an AVCA All-Region player. In a season where she has surpassed 4,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs, Foley has moved up to seventh in program history in all-time assists, as she also earned one Landmark Athlete of the Week selection on the same day as her AVCA National Player of the Week selection, Sept. 10.
Muth has been a constant for the Eagles this year at outside hitter, totaling 176 kills, 21 blocks, and 40 digs on the season so far. Her All-Region selection is the third in as many seasons in her career, as she was named to the First Team last year and an honorable mention in 2022. She recently earned First Team All-Landmark Conference selection as well, averaging 2.35 kills per set with a .301 hitting percentage.
Podolan is an All-Region V player for the third time in her career, with this being her second selection to the First Team after an honorable mention in 2023. Podolan is the most recent Eagle to surpass the 1,000 kill mark, as she did so in the Eagles' 3-0 sweep of Scranton University in the Landmark Championship. This season, she has earned Second Team All-Landmark Conference selection along with one Landmark Athlete of the Week Award (Sept. 16) averaging 2.67 kills per set and 2.85 points per set on 200 kills, 23 blocks, and 61 digs with a .285 hitting percentage.
Rousset-Hernandez has now gone four for four in making the All-Region Team in her career, promptly after earning the Specialist of the Year Award in the Landmark Conference and her second straight selection to the All-Landmark Conference First Team. She has been an efficient server and passer for the team this season, sitting 15th in the nation for service aces per set (.74) and leading the Landmark Conference with 56 service aces. While passing the 2,000 career digs milestone this year, Rousset-Hernandez has made 84 assists and 389 digs, averaging 4.92 digs per set. Rousset-Hernandez also earned Landmark Athlete of the Week honors twice this season, first on September 3 and later on September 16.
Head coach Heather Pavlik earned her third consecutive and fourth overall AVCA Division III Women's Volleyball Regional Coach of the Year Award. Recently, she also secured her eighth Landmark Conference Coaching Staff of the Year Award as a head coach. The program has just earned its 43rd conference championship and 17th consecutive Landmark Conference Championship, standing at 29-0 heading to NCAA tournament play. The team currently leads the country in hitting percentage (.319), kills per set (14.39), and in assists per set (13.47), while they additionally rank 11th in aces per set (3.08).
The #1 Juniata Eagles were selected to host the regional rounds of the NCAA tournament, which began with their 3-0 sweep of Penn State Altoona in the first round. They will host Virginia Wesleyan University in the Round of 32 on Friday at 7:00 p.m. for a place in the regional final.