Blue Volleyball's Reece Named AVCA All-Region; Three Earn Honorable Mention
WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley College volleyball junior Yasmine Reece (New Rochelle, N.Y.) has been named the 2017 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) New England All-Region team. In addition, the Blue earned a trio of honorable mention selections, as juniors Michelle Li (Scarsdale, N.Y.) and Samantha Hoang (Elk Grove, Calif.), and first year Lauren Gedney (Huntersville, N.C.) were all recognized.
Reece, a junior middle hitter, earns her second All-Region team honor in three seasons thanks to a campaign that has included 262 kills and a career-high 99 blocks. An honorable mention All-Region selection in 2016, Reece is just one block and four digs shy of recording 100 in each category this season. She earned both NEWMAC Offensive and Defensive Athlete of the Week honors during the 2017 campaign and is tied for the national lead for kills in a five-set match thanks to a 35 kill performance in a win over Clark on October 3rd. She was named to the New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) All-Conference first team for the third year in-a-row earlier this week
A junior setter, Li is averaging 9.27 assists per set on the season and has totaled career-highs with 946 assists and 207 digs in 28 matches. Li surpassed 2,000 career assists earlier this season and is well on her way to 3,000, as she has already reached 2,615 in her Wellesley career. The NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week on September 25, Li was in the national spotlight earlier this year when she appeared on espnW's top-ten plays of the week during SportsCenter on September 20th.
Hoang appeared in 235 sets over 27 matches, serving primarily as Wellesley's libero while establishing a career high in digs with 404 and averaging 4.34 digs per set. Hoang's 4.34 digs per set ranks among the top five defenders in the NEWMAC. Hoang was named NEWMAC Defensive Player of the Week on September 25, following a week in which she amassed 45 digs in two matches, and has six games with 20 or more digs on the season.
A first year outside hitter, Gedney leads the Blue in both kills (358) and kills per set (3.51), ranking her among the top five in the NEWMAC and among the regional leaders in both categories. A NEWMAC All-Conference second team selection, she was the NEWMAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on October 2 and earned a spot on the MIT Invitational All-Tournament Team earlier this season. Gedney has finished with double digit kills in 21 of Wellesley's 28 matches and has totaled nine matches with 15 or more kills on the year.
Wellesley will play Wesleyan (Conn.) in the opening round of the 2017 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship tomorrow, Friday, November 10, at 5:30 PM in Providence, R.I.