Four Aggies Receive AVCA Region Honors

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M's Stephanie Aiple, Jazzmin Babers and Kaitlyn Blake were named to the AVCA All-South Region Team. In addition, Hollann Hans was voted the South Region Freshman of the Year and also received All-South Region Honorable Mention accolades, the American Volleyball Coaches Association announced today. 
Aiple, a junior setter from Round Rock, and Babers, a senior middle blocker from Syracuse, N.Y., are each making their third consecutive appearance on the 14-member All-South Region Team, while Blake, a sophomore middle blocker from Allen, is making her first appearance on the team.
 
Hans, an outside hitter from Corpus Christi, becomes the third Aggie in program history to be named region freshman of the year, joining Aiple (2014) and Laura Jones (2002).
 
Texas A&M, which finished the season 21-9 after advancing to the first round of the NCAA Championship, led all schools with four representatives on both the all-region and honorable mention teams. All-region members will now be considered for AVCA All-America honors, which will be announced December 14.
 
Aiple, who started every match and played in all but one set this season, averaged 10.85 assists per set and directed an offense that ranks 10^th in the nation and second in the Southeastern Conference with 14.39 kills per set. A member of the All-SEC Team, Aiple also commanded the Aggies to a .259 hitting percentage, the eighth highest team season hitting percentage in program history.
 
Earlier this season, Aiple directed the A&M offense to a .392 hitting efficiency in a 3-2 victory at Georgia, marking the highest team hitting percentage in a five-set match in school history.
 
Aiple, who led A&M with four double-doubles in 2016, ranks fifth in the A&M career records with 3,413 assists.
 
Babers, who started all 122 matches in her career, led the Aggies with a .363 hitting percentage while averaging 2.53 kills and 3.19 points per set.  A member of the All-SEC Team and a finalist for the Senior CLASS Award, Babers was second on the team with 1.19 blocks per set this season and became the Texas A&M all-time career record holder in both total blocks and block assists. She completed her stellar career with a .370 career hitting percentage, the second highest in school history.
 
Blake, a member of the All-SEC Team and a two-time SEC Player of the Week, leads the SEC and is sixth in the nation with 1.52 blocks per set. Her 164 total blocks ranks fourth in the A&M all-time season records, and her 145 block assists ties for third all-time.
 
Blake, who led or tied for the team lead in blocks in 22 of 30 matches, started every match and played in all 108 sets. She was second on the team with a .361 hitting percentage while averaging 2.41 kills and 3.37 points per set.
 
Hans, a member of the SEC All-Freshman Team and a two-time SEC Freshman of the Week selection, played in all 30 matches and led the Aggies with 3.57 points per set for the full season. She was second on the team with 3.08 kills per set, having posted double-figure kills in a team-high 19 matches. Hans led or tied for the team lead in kills in 13 matches overall, tying for most on the team, and she led the Aggies with 24 total aces and 0.26 aces per set.
 
The following is the complete 2016 AVCA All- South Region Team
 

First Name	Last Name	School	Pos.	Year
Stephanie	Aiple***	Texas A&M	S	Jr.
Rachel	Anderson	Western Kentucky	MB	So.
Jazzmin	Babers***	Texas A&M	MB	Sr.
Kaitlyn	Blake	Texas A&M	MB	So.
Alyssa	Cavanaugh***	Western Kentucky	OH	Jr.
Jesse	Earl**	Auburn	L	Jr.
Aubrey	Edie	Ole Miss	S	Sr.
Leah	Hardeman**	Coastal Carolina	OH	Jr.
Annayka	Legros	Coastal Carolina	MB	Sr.
Jessica	Lucas***	Western Kentucky	S	Jr.
Carlyle	Nusbaum	Lipscomb	OH	So.
Taylor	Racich	Lipscomb	RS	Sr.
Krystal	Rivers****	Alabama	RS	Sr.
Lexi	Thompson	Ole Miss	OH	Jr.

Honorable Mention

First Name	Last Name	School	Pos.	Year
Alexa	Filley	Auburn	S	Jr.
Danielle	Harbin	Arkansas	OH	Sr.
Hollann	Hans	Texas A&M	OH	Fr.
Madison	Hill	Marshall	MB	Fr.
Ally	Kiekover	Marshall	MB	Sr.
Allie	Kellerman	Marshall	L	Sr.

Freshman of the Year: Hollann Hans, Texas A&M, OH
Coach of the Year: Travis Hudson, Western Kentucky

For the complete list of all-region teams, go to AVCA.org.
 
The South Region is comprised of 35 schools representing six conferences:
 

Atlantic Sun Conference
Kennesaw State
Lipscomb
NJIT
South Carolina-Upstate
 
Big South Conference
Charleston Southern
Gardner-Webb
Presbyterian
Winthrop
 
Conference USA
Charlotte
Florida Atlantic
Florida International
Marshall
Middle Tennessee State
UAB
Western Kentucky
 
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
Bethune-Cookman
Florida A&M
Howard
North Carolina A&T State
North Carolina Central
Savannah State
South Carolina State
 
Southeastern Conference
Alabama
Arkansas
Auburn
LSU
Mississippi
Mississippi State
Texas A&M
 
Southland Conference
Central Arkansas
Lamar
McNeese State
Nicholls State
Northwestern State
Southeastern Louisiana