Birks, McMahon Earn AVCA All-America Honors
December 17, 2014 | Volleyball
Dec. 17, 2014
Oklahoma City, Okla. - University of Illinois pin hitters Jocelynn Birks and Liz McMahon were both named to All-America teams by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) on Wednesday, as Birks was named to the Second Team and McMahon was tabbed as an Honorable Mention. The award is the second straight for Birks, who was a 2013 Third Team All-American, while McMahon takes home her first career All-America award following a successful senior campaign. McMahon is the 21st Illini to earn an All-America honor, while Birks becomes the seventh two-time All-American.
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| Birks Highlight Reel |
Outside hitter Jocelynn Birks earns Second Team All-America honors following a unanimous All-Big Ten selection and an AVCA All-Northeast Region nod. The junior is on pace to become Illinois' all-time career kills leader, currently sitting in eighth all time with 1,537 career kills in just three seasons. A six-rotation player, Birks led the Big Ten in kills, kills per set, points, points per set and double-doubles on the year. She became the second Illini ever to record three 500-kill seasons on Dec. 6, finishing 2014 with 527 kills (4.05/s), 337 digs (2.59/s), 83 blocks (0.64/s) and 31 aces (0.24).
"Jocelynn being Second-Team All-American obviously is very exciting for her," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "I think she's going to be thrilled about it. I think that the load that she carries and what she has to do for our team day in and day out--everyone who watches us knows--and to put the numbers up that she did, there's no question that she's an All-American. When you talk about All-Americans, you talk about doing the things on the floor, doing what you need to do to help your team win. Certainly we don't have All-Americans or all-conference players if the team isn't successful, and she had a lot to do with that. She probably took on the largest responsibility of any player--her and [Alexis Viliunas] once we switched to the 5-1. I'm proud of her and excited to have her for another year. I think she's just going to get better, because that's her mindset, that she just needs to work hard."
Birks dazzled in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament, leading the Illini to the NCAA Regional by averaging 6.17 kills and 2.67 digs while hitting .421 to propel the Illini to straight-set victories over Murray State and Iowa State. She hit .444 with 14 kills, nine digs, three blocks and an ace against Murray State, then slammed an impressive 23 kills and seven digs in the 3-0 win over Iowa State. Only one Illini has ever registered more kills in a three-set match during rally scoring (Rachel VanMeter) or postseason (Tina Rogers) play. The Willow Springs, Illinois, native continued her hot had against No. 5 Florida in the NCAA Regional Semifinal, slamming 22 kills, 13 digs and four blocks for her 18th double-double of the season and 27th career 20-kill match, leading her to a spot on the NCAA Regional All-Tournament Team for the second straight season. Earlier in the year, she was named to the All-Tournament teams at the Illini Classic and Blue Raider Bash, then took home Big Ten Player of the Week honors on Sept. 29 after hitting .404 with 27 kills, 17 digs and three aces in straight-set victories over Rutgers and Maryland on Big Ten opening weekend.
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| McMahon Highlight Reel |
McMahon earns an All-American Honorable Mention for the first time in her career, after taking home AVCA All-Region and an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. The Liberty Township, Ohio, native enjoyed a successful final season with the Illini, which included being named as a top-10 Finalist for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award as well as taking home Academic All-District honors last month. The opposite hitter is second on the Illini with 396 kills, adding 110 blocks (0.85/set).
"I'm excited for Liz," said Hambly. "I think she had a very good year for us. Her numbers at times were good and sometimes not, but she brought fight and energy and competitiveness to every match. With her on the blocks, it just presents a major challenge for any outside hitter. We do a really nice job of stopping lefts and a big part of that is Liz and what she brought out there. At times, she was extraordinary offensively, but always at the end of games, she was very good offensively and defensively and was a great competitor, so I'm excited for her as well."
McMahon opened her senior season on a high note by leading the Illini to straight-set victories over Long Beach State, Southern Illinois, and North Carolina with a tournament-best .426 hitting percentage powered by 24 kills and 10 blocks to earn Illini Classic MVP and Big Ten Player of the Week honors. She went on to be named to every subsequent preconference all-tournament team, helping the Illini through a difficult nonconference slate. She finished her illustrious career in the top 10 in six statistical categories, ranking 10th in kills (1,443), seventh in attacks (3,661), ninth in points (1,704) and eighth in block assists (406), while playing in the third-most sets (508) and 10th-most matches (134) in Illinois history.
The AVCA recognized 42 student-athletes on three All-America teams, with 14 earning First Team honors, 14 on the Second Team and 14 on the Third Team. An additional 109 All-Region selections garnered Honorable Mentions. The selections were made by the AVCA Division I All-America Committee, chaired by Indiana head coach Sherry Dunbar and featuring one head coach from each of the 10 regions.
With her First Team selection in 2014, Texas outside hitter Haley Eckerman became the 26th player in AVCA history to garner four All-America awards. Fellow First Team honorees Micha Hancock (Penn State) and Karsta Lowe (UCLA) picked up their third consecutive honors, while an additional 10 student-athletes, including Birks, garnered their second All-America award.
The Big Ten took home 10 All-America honors, including First Team selections for Penn State seniors Nia Grant (MB) and Micha Hancock (S) and Wisconsin sophomore Lauren Carlini (S), and 16 additional conference players earned Honorable Mentions. Hancock was named 2014 Division I AVCA Player of the Year, as announced at the All-America Banquet on Dec. 19, and teammate Ali Frantti, a Second Team honoree, was named Freshman of the Year. BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead took home National Coach of the Year honors after guiding his unseeded Cougars to the national title match, and UNC's Eve Rackham earned National Assistant Coach of the Year.
| 2014 AVCA Division I All-Americans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FIRST TEAM | ||||
| First Name | Last Name | School | Position | Year |
| Inky | Ajanaku* | Stanford University | MB | Jr. |
| Madi | Bugg^ | Stanford University | S | Jr. |
| Jordan | Burgess | Stanford University | OH | Jr. |
| Lauren | Carlini^ | University of Wisconsin | S | So. |
| Haley | Eckerman!$* | University of Texas | OH | Sr. |
| Nia | Grant | Penn State University | MB | Sr. |
| Jennifer | Hamson$ | Brigham Young University | RS | Sr. |
| Micha | Hancock$* | Penn State University | S | Sr. |
| Briana | Holman | Louisiana State University | MB | So. |
| Alex | Holston | University of Florida | RS | So. |
| Karsta | Lowe | UCLA | OH | Sr. |
| Chiaka | Ogbogu^ | University of Texas | MB | So. |
| Taylor | Simpson | University of Colorado | OH | Sr. |
| Krista | Vansant@* | University of Washington | OH | Sr. |
| SECOND TEAM | ||||
| Rhamat | Alhassan | University of Florida | MB | Fr. |
| Khat | Bell | University of Texas | MB | Sr. |
| Morgan | Bergren | University of Kentucky | S | Jr. |
| Jocelynn | Birks# | University of Illinois | OH | RS Jr. |
| Samantha | Bricio^ | University of Southern California | OH | Jr. |
| Ali | Frantti | Penn State University | OH | Fr. |
| Alexa | Gray# | Brigham Young University | OH | Jr. |
| Savanah | Leaf | University of Miami | OH | Sr. |
| Merete | Lutz | Stanford University | MB | RS Fr. |
| Taylor | Morey | University of Wisconsin | L | Jr. |
| Chaniel | Nelson | University of North Carolina | RS | RS Sr. |
| Courtney | Thomas | University of Wisconsin | RS | Sr. |
| Nicole | Walch | Florida State University | OH | Jr. |
| Aiyana | Whitney | Penn State University | RS | RS Jr. |
| THIRD TEAM | ||||
| Martenne | Bettendorf | University of Oregon | RS | Jr. |
| Kelli | Browning | Creighton University | MB | Sr. |
| Mackenzie | Dagostino | University of Florida | S | Jr. |
| Deedra | Foss | Colorado State University | S | Sr. |
| Macey | Gardner | Arizona State University | OH | Jr. |
| Madi | Kingdon | University of Arizona | OH | Sr. |
| Mary-Kate | Marshall | Oregon State University | OH | Fr. |
| Molly | McCage | University of Texas | MB | Jr. |
| Kaleigh | Nelson# | University of Washington | RS | Sr. |
| Caitlin | Nolan | Iowa State University | L | Jr. |
| Krystal | Rivers | University of Alabama | RS | RS So. |
| Kadie | Rolfzen# | University of Nebraska | OH | So. |
| Lianna | Sybeldon | University of Washington | MB | Jr. |
| Paige | Tapp | University of Minnesota | MB | So. |
2014 Division I AVCA Player of the Year: Micha Hancock, Penn State, OH
2014 Division I AVCA Freshman of the Year: Ali Frantti, Penn State, OH
2014 Division I AVCA Head Coach of the Year: Shawn Olmstead, BYU
2014 Division I AVCA Assistant Coach of the Year: Eve Rackham, UNC
* indicates 2013 AVCA First-Team All-America selection
^ indicates 2013 AVCA Second-Team All-America selection
# indicates 2013 AVCA Third-Team All-America selection
$ indicates 2012 AVCA First-Team All-America selection
@ indicates 2012 AVCA Second-Team All-America selection
% indicates 2012 AVCA Third-Team All-America selection
! indicates 2011 AVCA Second-Team All-America selection
