After first making an appearance on the AVCA's South Central Region team after her sophomore campaign, John Brown University volleyball's Jessica Schultz returned as a senior, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced on Friday, Dec. 6.
Sophomore setter Carrie Ciesla was also honored with an honorable mention All-Region plaudit.
Schultz, a middle hitter from Windsor, Colo., paced the Golden Eagles to another outstanding season that featured a 26-8 record and its highest finish in the Sooner Athletic Conference final standings since 2006. The three-time All-SAC first team selection and the 2019 SAC Hitter of the Year finished the campaign hitting .346 (306-89-628), the 15th-best mark among NAIA attackers. Schultz led the squad in hitting percentage, kills (306), kills per set (2.64) and points per set (3.20).
On defense, she led the blocking effort in each category with 20 solo blocks, 91 assists and 111.0 total rejections.
Schultz joins Audrey Dearien, Juliana Todescan, Meghann Wharton and Amber Squires as the only Golden Eagles to earn multiple AVCA All-Region first team honors during their careers. The AVCA began awarding the distinction in 1989.
Ciesla found her way to the honorable mention list after posting career highs in assists (603), assists per set (5.53) and service aces (37). Despite running three setters throughout the season, Ciesla accounted for nearly 50 percent of assists between the trio of primary setters and helped the Golden Eagles hit .219 on the season -- equaling their mark from 2017.
Sports on 12/11/2019