UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's volleyball team saw six student-athletes honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) on Tuesday morning as Kendall White, Jonni Parker, Kaitlyn Hord, Bryanna Weiskircher and Nia Reed were all named to the AVCA Northeast All-Region Team, while Serena Gray was named to the honorable mention list, as announced by the organization's office.
Parker, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, was also named the AVCA Northeast Freshman of the Year.
This marks the second-straight season on the AVCA Northeast All-Region Team for junior Kendall White. Bryanna Weiskircher picked up her second career honor as the redshirt senior was named AVCA All-Northeast Region Honorable Mention Honoree in her redshirt freshman season in 2015.
This marks the first career AVCA honors for Reed, Hord, Parker and Gray.
Parker is the ninth Nittany Lion to earn AVCA Regional Freshman of the Year honors, and is the first since 2014 when Ali Frantti was honored and went on to be named the AVCA National Freshman of the Year. Parker has scored a team-high 396.5 points this season and is averaging 3.00 kills per set, while hitting .261. She also has added 1.77 digs per set, 0.75 blocks per set and 24 aces. Parker also earned All-Big Ten First Team and All-Freshman Team honors last week.
White, the 2018 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, has destroyed the 25-point rally scoring era single-season record for digs with 531 so far, surpassing the previous mark of 507 set by Alyssa D'Errico in 2010. White is averaging 4.78 digs per set and has added 17 aces and 87 assists on the season. White was also named to the All-Big Ten First Team last week.
Hord, an All-Big Ten Second Team and All-Freshman team honoree, is averaging 2.16 kills per set on a team-best .387 hitting percentage, which is fourth in the Big Ten and top-20 in the nation. The rookie middle blocker is also averaging 1.23 blocks per set and is fourth on the team in points.
Weiskircher, an All-Big Ten Second Team selection, has guided the Nittany Lions offense all season by the tune of 10.89 assists per set, a number that increased to 11.28 against Big Ten opponents. She has tallied 11 double-doubles with assists and digs this year. She is averaging 2.31 digs per set, which is second on the team, and 0.66 blocks per set. Weiskircher is also leading the team with 28 aces.
Reed is averaging a team-high 3.24 kills per set on .258 hitting. She has put down a total of 311 kills, a new personal best for a season, and has added 69 total blocks, including 20 solo blocks.
Gray leads the team in blocking at 1.25 per set and is averaging 1.86 kills per set on .325 hitting. She has also dished out 13 aces as the serving middle and scooped up 40 digs.
Penn State heads to the NCAA Stanford Regional to take on Washington in the Regional Semifinal on Friday evening at 6 p.m. ET in Maples Pavilion as Stanford, the No. 1 overall seed, is the regional host. The match will be aired on ESPNU.
