Carolina Earns Two AVCA Regional Awards
December 5, 2017 | Volleyball
LEXINGTON, Ky. – North Carolina senior Beth Nordhorn was named AVCA All-East Coast Region on Tuesday, while junior Taylor Leath earned All-Region Honorable Mention, as elected by members of the American Volleyball Coaches Association. A member of the 2017 All-ACC First Team, Nordhorn picks up her first career AVCA award, while Second-Team All-ACC selection Leath garnered her second consecutive All-Region nod.
The AVCA divided Division I into 10 regions, with each conference split between two regions. The coaches' association selected 14 student-athletes to each All-Region team along with six honorable mentions. Additionally, each region had a Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year. A total of 205 student-athletes and 10 head coaches received awards. Nineteen members of the Atlantic Coast Conference took home awards from the East Coast and East Regions, including all six individual honors. The 205 All-Region honorees represent the student-athlete pool for consideration for AVCA All-America.
A senior middle hitter from Winter Park, Florida, Nordhorn enjoyed a spectacular final season with the Tar Heels, solidifying herself as one of the most efficient offensive players in the nation and in Carolina history. Nordhorn led the ACC in hitting percentage for the second straight season and finished third all time at UNC with a .378 hitting percentage. The 6-foot-7 middle improved immensely on defense throughout the season, finishing the year ranked ninth in the ACC with 1.15 blocks per set, including totaling 24 stuffs over the final three matches of the year.
Nordhorn played all 28 matches at middle hitter this season, finishing second on the team with 231 kills and 120 blocks, averaging 2.22 kps and 1.15 bps. She registered double-digit kills in 11 matches, hitting .400 or higher in nine of those 11. Nordhorn hit at least .500 with 10+ kills seven times, including hitting above .600 with 10 kills twice. The Winter Park, Florida, native finished her time at Carolina with a .399 career hitting percentage—fifty points above the all-time record of .349 set by Tori Seibert in 1999. While her career average will not appear in the record books, having taken only 792 swings to come some 200 shy of the 1,000 required attempts, she is the only attacker in Carolina history to take even 30 career swings and hit above .375.
Taylor Leath earns All-Region Honorable Mention this fall after garnering AVCA All-America Second Team and All-East Coach Region honors last season. The redshirt junior outside hitter led Carolina with 336 kills (3.17 kps) and was second on the team with 228 digs (2.15/s) and 20 service aces (0.19/s). Carolina's team captain, the six-rotation outside registered 17 double-digit kill matches, nine double-digit dig matches and six double-doubles.
Leath recorded 25+ kills twice this season, in four-set victories over top-50 opponents LSU and NC State. She was named ACC Player of the Week on Sept. 11 after setting a UNC 25-point rally-scoring record with 27 kills, 12 digs and a .404 hitting percentage against LSU. She then hit .442 with 25 kills in a 3-1 win over ACC rival NC State. One of Carolina's deadliest servers, she served up five aces without an error to go with 17 kills (.382) against Virginia Tech, which tied for the fifth most in a match during the rally-scoring era.
Miami senior Olga Strantzali, who led the conference in kills and points and ranked second in service aces, was named East Coast Region Player of the Year, while ACC Co-Champion Pittsburgh picked up East Coast Freshman of the Year (Kayla Lund) and Coach of the Year (Dan Fisher). Pitt had three additional players selected to the All-Region Team, as did Notre Dame, along with Miami setter Haley Templeton and Georgia Tech outside hitter Gabriela Stavnetchei.
Three different ACC teams collected the individual awards in the East Region. NC State senior Julia Brown was named East Region Player of the Year, Florida State's Taryn Knuth earned Freshman of the Year, while ACC Co-Champion Louisville's head coach Dani Busboom was named Coach of the Year. Louisville and NC State both had two student-athletes (including Brown) on the All-East Region team, along with FSU's Milica Kubura and Syracuse junior Santita Ebangwese.
| 2017 AVCA All-East Coast Region | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kamalani | Akeo** | Pittsburgh | S | Jr. |
| Allie | Barber | Marquette | OH | So. |
| Ryan | DeJarld | Notre Dame | L | Jr. |
| Sam | Fry | Notre Dame | MB | Sr. |
| Nika | Markovic | Pittsburgh | RS | So. |
| Krissy | Mummey | College of Charleston | MB | Sr. |
| Beth | Nordhorn | North Carolina | MB | Sr. |
| Jenna | Rosenthal** | Marquette | MB | RS-Jr. |
| Symone | Speech | Georgetown | MB | Jr. |
| Gabriela | Stavnetchei | Georgia Tech | OH | Sr. |
| Olga | Strantzali** | Miami | OH | Sr. |
| Haley | Templeton | Miami | S | Sr. |
| Stephanie | Williams** | Pittsburgh | OH | RS-So. |
| Jemma | Yeadon | Notre Dame | OH | So. |
| Honorable Mention | ||||
| Taylor | Austin | James Madison | L | Sr. |
| Allison | Beckman | College of Charleston | S | Jr. |
| Erica | Di Maulo | St. John's | S | So. |
| Taylor | Leath | North Carolina | OH | RS-Jr. |
| Alexandra | Loitz | Villanova | OH | Sr. |
| Lauren | Speckman | Marquette | S | So. |
Player of the Year: Olga Strantzali, Miami, OH
Freshman of the Year: Kayla Lund, Pittsburgh, OH
Coach of the Year: Dan Fisher, Pittsburgh
**Two-time honoree
