(Portions of this article courtesy of Colorado College and Trinity University)
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced the 2018 Division III All-America teams Tuesday and four Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference players were recognized. AVCA Release
Colorado College's Marguerite Spaethling was named Second Team All-America and her teammate Lizzy Counts was recognized as Third Team. Trinity University's Madeline McKay was also a Third Team selection and her teammate Katrina Lieberman earned Honorable Mention honors.
The naming of Spaethling and Counts marks the sixth time in program history that Colorado College has had multiple All-Americans in a single season.
Spaethling earned a spot on the second team to secure the award for the first time, while Counts became the sixth Tiger to earn two or more All-America certificates after being named to the third team this year.
Spaethling led the team with a .373 hitting percentage, which ranks 12th in the nation, and 425.5 points. She also ranked second on the team with a single-season high 337 kills and was fourth with 28 service aces. The junior middle hitter produced double-digit kills on 19 occasions, with a high of 18 in the five-set win over Austin College on Oct. 12. Spaethling recorded a team-high 21 solo blocks and 98 total blocks, which helped CC rank third nationally with a .100 opponent hitting percentage.
Counts directed Colorado College’s balanced attack that ranked third nationally with a .262 team hitting percentage. The junior setter dished out 1,084 assists this season and became the third player in school history to surpass the 3,000-assist plateau. Counts also was a force in several other statistics, finishing the season first on the team with 40 aces and third with 267 digs, 37 block assists and 41 total blocks. She recorded 12 double-doubles (assists-digs) and hit a single-season best .321 with 89 kills. Counts joined Cathy Costello (1986, '87, '88, '89), Abby Holtze (2013, '15, '16), Amy Smith (1985, '86, '87), Stacey Jonker (1992, '93) and Emily Perkins (2009, '10) as Tigers with at least two All-America certificates.
Trinity's McKay was tabbed for the All-America Third Team, while Lieberman made the Honorable Mention. The two Tiger standouts were earlier selected for the AVCA All-West Region Team and the All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference First Team. This season, McKay fired in 374 kills. During her career McKay chalked up 1,243 kills and is ranked 10th in Trinity's record books.
Lieberman produced 1,245 assists in the campaign and is ranked 10th this season in Division III. She stands in 11th place in Trinity's single-season records.
Trinity volleyball has now produced 20 All-Americans elected to the First, Second, and Third Teams. The 33 certificates for those All-Americans places Trinity in seventh place in Division III.