LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) released the All-Region awards Thursday and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference had eight total players earn the recognition, including five who earned First Team honors. Complete AVCA Release
Headlining the list of SCAC honorees was Trinity University senior outside hitter Avery Tuggle, who was named AVCA Region 10 Player-of-the-Year, and Trinity Head Coach Julie Jenkins, who was selected the region's Coach of the Year. The eight total selections to the team are the most for the conference since the league had eight honorees tabbed in back to back years in 2016 and 2017.
All told, Trinity University and Colorado College each had three student-athletes recognized on the 2021 All-Region team and Southwestern University and Texas Lutheran University had one honoree each.
Tuggle, who was the SCAC co-Player-of-the-Year this season (the second time in her career she has earned POTY honors), helped lead the Tigers to an undefeated regular season in conference play and the SCAC tournament title. posting 326 kills (fifth in the SCAC) with 373 points (sixth in the SCAC). She is also currently top 10 in points per set (3.3 – 10th), kills per set (2.91 – 10th) and hitting percentage (.279 – eighth). She is the first player in program history to be named the AVCA Region Player of the Year.
Joining Tuggle on the First Team All-Region squad are teammates Sara Flynn and Annie Rose Leggett. Flynn, a senior outside hitter who earned First Team all-SCAC honors, ranks fourth in the SCAC in hitting percentage (.331), block assists (86) and total blocks (93). Leggett, a senior outside hitter who was also a First Team all-SCAC selection, leads the conference in service aces (58) and aces per set (0.52) and is currently fifth in digs (426), seventh in digs per set (3.80), fourth in points (385.0), seventh in points per set (3.4) and seventh in kills (304).
This marks the first time since the 2014 that three Trinity players have been named to the All-Region team.
Head Coach Julie Jenkins led the second-ranked Tigers to the SCAC regular season title and the program’s first undefeated conference regular season since the 2007 season, as well as the program's 13th conference tournament title. Among the many highlights of this year’s campaign, Jenkins secured her 1,000-career coaching victory, becoming just the third coach in NCAA Division III history to do so when Trinity defeated Centenary 3-0 on October 1.
Three members of the No. 11-ranked Colorado College volleyball team also earned all-West Region honors.
Senior middle hitter Georgia Mullins and sophomore setter Jenny Jenks were first-team selections, while senior outside hitter Isabella Vasquez earned honorable-mention accolades.
Mullins, the SCAC co-Player-of-the-Year as well as a first-team all-conference selection, received all-West Region honors for the second time. She ranks No. 12 in Division III averaging 4.82 points per set, No. 25 at 1.05 blocks and 39th at 3.89 kills. Mullins leads the SCAC with 463 kills and 574 points, was second with 125 total blocks and tied for fourth with 41 aces. Mullins also was third with a .338 hitting percentage and fourth at 1.05 blocks per set.
Jenks, the SCAC Setter-of-the-Year and a first-team all-conference selection, ranks fifth nationally averaging 10.90 assists per set, while the Tigers are 18th with a .243 team hitting percentage. She has dished out 1,286 assists this season, which ranks second on the program's single-season chart. Jenks also ranked eighth in the conference with 385 digs and 16th with an average of 3.26 digs per set. She was third with 42 aces and ninth at 0.36 assists per set.
Vasquez, a first-team all-SCAC selection for the second time, ranks fourth in the conference with 327 kills and her average of 3.08 kills per set. She also was fifth 373.5 points and her average of 3.5 points per set. Defensively, she is 16th with 314 digs and 23rd averaging 2.96 digs per set.
Southwestern's Emma White, a junior outside hitter, earned Honorable Mention all-Region honors. White leads the Pirates with 343 kills (third in the SCAC), and is also top 10 in the conference in multiple statistical categories, ranking seventh in kills per set (2.98), second in service aces (47), fifth in service aces per set (0.41), eighth in digs (395), third in points (406.0) and fifth points per set (3.5).
Rounding out SCAC student-athletes on the AVCA All-Region X squad is junior libero Lexi Morris of Texas Lutheran. Morris, the SCAC Backrow Player-of-the-Year, led the SCAC in both digs (737) and digs per set (6.14) following last weekend’s conference tournament. Her total digs leads all of NCAA Division III and her digs per set total is currently sixth in the nation.
