ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- Elizabethtown College senior middle hitter
Kayla Deats has been named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Mid-Atlantic Region team, the AVCA announced Thursday. Deats was also among four Blue Jays selected to the All-Commonwealth Conference team, which was also released on Thursday.
Joining Deats as a first-team All-Conference selection was outside hitter
Paige Tanner, while earning second-team honors were setter
Crystal Agnew and middle hitter
Lindsay Palm, who was also recognized as conference Rookie of the Year.
The Blue Jays finished 20-10 overall and in second place in the Commonwealth Conference with a 6-1 record, and advanced to the conference championship match for the fourth straight season before falling in five sets to Lebanon Valley College.
Deats is the first Blue Jay to earn All-Region honors since
Kelly Downs and Stacey Wasserman were honored in 2007. She finished second in the Commonwealth Conference in hitting percentage (.323) and led the conference with an average of 1.07 blocks per set (114 total).
A second-team All-Conference selection last season, Deats was second on the squad with 249 kills and was third on the team with 25 service aces. For her career, Deats ranks eighth in school history with 916 kills and is tied for seventh with 407 blocks.
Tanner, who was named first-team All-Conference for the second straight season and is a three-time All-Conference pick in her career, finished second in the conference with a team-high 334 kills and fourth in kills per set with an average of 3.09. She led the Blue Jays with 344 digs and finished her career ranked second in program history in both career kills (1,446) and digs (1,538).
Agnew led the Blue Jays and was second in the Commonwealth Conference with 923 assists (9.23 assists per set) while adding 68 kills and 260 digs. She ranks eighth in program history with 1,665 career assists and is second with a career average of 7.82 assists per set.
Palm became the first Elizabethtown player since Ashley Whitmarsh in 2004 to earn Commonwealth Rookie of the Year honors after ranking third in the league with a .294 hitting percentage on the strength of 206 kills. She also ranked third on the team with 56 blocks.
Conference champion Lebanon Valley took the other two major conference awards, as Joelle Snyder was named Player of the Year and Wayne Perry garnered Coach of the Year honors.