Four Badgers named AVCA All-Region

MADISON, Wis. – Three members of the Wisconsin volleyball team were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Northeast Region team, the organization announced on Tuesday. Junior Lauren Carlini picked up her third all-region award while senior Taylor Morey and junior Haleigh Nelson earned their second honors. Tionna Williams was named the Northeast Region Freshman of the Year.
Carlini is just the second Badger to earn three awards while Williams is the second regional freshman of the year, following Carlini who was honored in 2013. It also marks the sixth time in program history that UW has had three-or-more all-region selections.

Carlini, a 6-1 setter, leads the Big Ten Conference and ranks seventh nationally with 11.92 assists per set. The 2014 and 2015 Big Ten Setter of the Year, Carlini was a first-team AVCA All-American in 2014. The Aurora, Illinois, native also ranks third on the Badger squad with 2.74 digs and 0.85 blocks per set.

A 5-6 libero, Morey leads the Badgers and ranks third in the Big Ten with 4.54 digs per set. She has double-figure digs in 27 matches this season, including eight matches with 20-or-more saves. The Muncie, Indiana, native, who earned second-team All-America honors in 2014, also ranks second on the team with 19 service aces this season.

Nelson, a 2014 honorable mention All-American, has the top hitting percentage on the Wisconsin team at .422, which ranks second in the Big Ten and ninth nationally. Her mark will go down as the best season hitting percentage in UW history. She also ranks second on the team with 1.27 blocks per set while adding 2.63 kills per set for third on the Badger team.

Williams, a 6-2 middle blocker, leads Wisconsin and ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 1.36 blocks per set while adding 2.23 kills per set. A member of the 2015 Big Ten All-Freshman team, the Fort Wayne, Indiana, native ranks second on the UW team with a hitting percentage of .327.

The No. 6-seed Badgers (26-6, 16-4 Big Ten) advance to their third straight NCAA Regional where they will take on 11th-seeded Florida (24-6, 13-5 SEC) in the Austin Regional semifinals at Gregory Gym in Austin, Texas. Wisconsin and the Gators serve off at 4:30 p.m. on Friday while No. 3-seed Texas (27-2, 15-1 Big 12) takes on 14th-seeded UCLA (25-7, 14-6 Pac-12) in the other semifinal on Friday at 7 p.m.

Semifinal winners advance to Saturday's regional final at 8 p.m. for the right to compete in the NCAA Championship on Dec. 17 and 19th at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

Northeast Region

First Name	Last Name	School	Pos.	Year
Faye	Adelaja	Purdue	MB	JR
Jocelynn	Birks***	Illinois	OH	SR
Elizabeth	Campbell**	Ohio State	OH	SR
Lauren	Carlini***	Wisconsin	S	JR
Megan	Courtney	Penn State	OH	SR
Danielle	Cuttino	Purdue	MB	SO
Annie	Drews	Purdue	RS	SR
Ali	Frantti**	Penn State	OH	SO
Abby	Gilleland***	Ohio	S	SR
Taylor	Morey**	Wisconsin	L	SR
Haleigh	Nelson**	Wisconsin	MB	JR
Taylor	Sandbothe**	Ohio State	MB	JR
Haleigh	Washington	Penn State	MB	SO
Aiyana	Whitney**	Penn State	MB	SR

Honorable Mention

First Name	Last Name	School	Pos.	Year
Meredith	Ashy	Ohio	L	SR
Challen	Geraghty	Kent State	L	SO
Alexis	Middlebrooks	Cleveland State	MB	SO
Christina	Toth	Cleveland State	OH	SR
Bryanna	Weiskircher	Penn State	S	FR
Tionna	Williams	Wisconsin	MB	FR

Freshman of the Year: Tionna Williams, Wisconsin, MB
Coach of the Year: Chuck Voss, Cleveland State

* Denotes total number of years selected to AVCA Division I All-Region Team

University of Wisconsin Athletics

Four Badgers named AVCA All-Region

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Players Mentioned

Lauren Carlini

Haleigh Nelson

Tionna Williams

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