D3VbWest Preseason All-Region Team (2024)

Time for the sixth annual (sans 2020-21 Covid Season) Preseason D3VbWest All-Region Awards! These are the only preseason regional awards given out in DIII volleyball so they are absolutely the best. Let’s go over the ground rules:

• I follow the AVCA All-Region format and go with 14 first team members and 6 honorable mentions.

• I now avoid the individual awards (like Player of the Year) because it was too stressful.

• Like the AVCA, I will favor the players from teams that should be the best in the region and those that play the toughest schedule. The AVCA doesn’t give out their awards to players who don’t prove it against the best competition possible so I try to follow their example.

• When it gets down to the end, I favor the junior or senior.

• The AVCA has some position requirements but I just try to do the best I can.

• It’s very hard for a 3-rotation outside to make All-Region First Team.

• Unlike the AVCA, your coach doesn’t have to be an AVCA member for a player to be on my list. With that said, wouldn’t it just be horrible to be one of the best players in the region at the end of the year and you don’t get All-Region and All-American honors because your coach isn’t a member? It happens.

Things to remember:

• If the player you care about the most did not make my list just know that I’m really bad at this. Eleven of the players from my first team last year (out of 14) were named AVCA first-team or honorable mention. Just one of my six honorable mentions made one of the teams last year. Overall, 12 out of 20 or 60%. (My best is 13 out of 20 last year.)

• The AVCA doesn’t listen to me. Don’t think that I’m hurting anyone’s chance by not naming them.

• There are going to be players that get an opportunity and excel this year that in no way I could have anticipated. They will wreak havoc with these selections. And, let’s not even get into injuries.

• To the players selected, there is no trophy, plaque or certificate to commemorate this incredible achievement but you are free to print this out and hang it on your wall. Feel free to tweet me a picture of it. (No one has ever done this, yet.)

• To the players not selected, you are free to change out the names and add your own and then print it out and hang it on your wall. Feel free to tweet me a picture of it. (Again, no one has ever done this, yet.)

Here is the sixth annual D3VbWest Preseason All-West Region Team:

Schools with multiple mentions are Trinity (4), CMS (3), La Verne (3) and East Texas Baptist (2). I believe these will be your best four schools, in some order, in Region X this year. It would not surprise me to see a fifth from Trinity as I’ll mention below. It should be noted that the AVCA likes to reward the best teams when it does their end-of-the-year awards so a mix like this will not be unexpected regardless of who the best teams end up being. As far as positions, I’m not sure 3 liberos will make it and I’m sure another opposite or two will find the list at the end of the year. Looking at the conferences and it’s the SCIAC that leads the way with 8 selections followed by the SCAC with 6. Both of these conferences normally dominate the selections. One reason is that most of their coaches are in the AVCA and you have to be a member to vote. The ASC is third with 4 selections with the NWC and the C2C (I only consider UC Santa Cruz from this conference) getting one. Why did the NWC only get one? Well, they typically are very late with their All-NWC announcement, which hurts their voting totals. Coaches from other conferences, for the most part, really have no clue who is in the NWC if they don’t play them during the season. The NWC also doesn’t typically play the hardest schedule, which also hurts their chances. As for me, I do like a number of players from this conference but it seems like just the Player of the Year only gets All-Region. I guess that means I think Ella Jimenez will get that award this year. I also think the NWC will be down overall this year with Whitworth taking their title. If Ella doesn’t get the award then maybe Cassidy Franklin who also plays for Whitworth might be the NWC name at the end of the year.

That’s a nice segue into the names I considered but didn’t make the list. There are a number of transfers coming into the region that might make a name for themselves. You just never know with these players. You also don’t know which first-year players are going to step up but there were two on the AVCA All-Region last year so it’s going to happen. For those players that I could identify, I liked Olivia Cadien (Willamette) and Mara Murphy (Pacific) out of the NWC (in addition to Cassidy Franklin of Whitworth). I expect someone from Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound to also step up but just didn’t feel comfortable making that selection. One problem with outsides is that the AVCA likes to see them play 6-rotations and be an asset in the service receive and defensively (in addition to having a high hitting percentage). There are a number of great offensive players that get subbed off the backrow and that makes their All-Region chances slim. Two players I like who I can’t name (because I’m not 100% sure who they are) are the #1 Trinity setter and the East Texas Baptist libero. Trinity always seems to put a setter on the All-Region list so who starts their first match will be a huge favorite to be on this list come November. The libero for ETBU will also be new and I expect that player to also be highly considered for the honor at the end of the year. Out of the SCAC, in addition to the Trinity setter, I like a number of Southwestern players. Maybe that’s just my bias speaking but I avoided putting any of the list as they had an off year in 2023. Still, watch out for transfer Payton Shiflet (last player taken off my lists) who came over from Greensboro College. She will excel offensively and defensively and could make the AVCA All-Region team with a good Pirates season. Another Pirate that gets squeezed by the libero numbers is Geneva Nedrow and you can certainly add St Thomas’ Kara Spice to that squeezed list, too. If Colorado College turns out to be the second best SCAC team then expect someone else there to step up by the end of the year. Over in the SCIAC, I expect a couple of Pomona-Pitzer players (Chloe Gill and Paige Mountanos) to make a run at the All-Region team. I have a number of CMS players on the list but no middle or outside. Brooke McKee, if she gets some backrow play, could be another consideration at the end of the year. Another player I really like is Katie Warden out of Mary Hardin-Baylor. She’ll also need consistent backrow play to be considered. There are a number of others but this will just get to be too long. If I didn’t mention your favorite player then just assume she was next on my list (after Shiflet). Also remember that I’m not really good at this (60%).

Going down the first team alphabetically, let’s give out some love to these wonderful players. Brenna Bell had a down season last year but was still honorable mention all-region and she’ll probably still be the best opposite in the region. I expect an uptick with her this year as she’ll be a top option. Watch her hitting percentage as that will tell you where she is in 2024. I’m not 100% sure Malia Capistrano will still be in a 6-2 offense this season. If she is, then this is a done deal. If not, then I think she could be moved down to honorable mention. Regardless, she’ll have two great outsides, who will be talked about shortly, to dish the ball to all year. Dede Carranza doesn’t have the statistics that some of the other liberos do but you just have to watch the matches to see how special she is. Playing for CMS means you play a top tier schedule and when not, it means at best you are only going to play 3 sets. I think CMS will drop off a bit and, ironically, we should see her statistics swing up. Carolyn Dormady teamed up with Izzy Lipacis (now with WashU) to form an incredible one-two punch at the outside for the Tigers in 2023. Normally, there would be a doubt with a player like this as you are unsure if she can handle the increased role with Izzy gone, but she’s already shown she can do it as Izzy was down with injuries at times last year. I’m glad Super Senior Maddie Fate is back as she suffered a disappointing injury prior to the Elite 8 last year. Maddie is a huge presence with the block and is one of our most efficient hitters. Lauren Gott burst onto the scene last year as a freshman teaming up with Mya Ray and helped take them to a Regional Final. I think La Verne will be better this year and some of that improvement will come from the already great Gott. There are two things when it comes to Super Seniors that always seem to be true. First, Trinity will keep there’s in-house. Second, Colorado College’s will play for someone else. With Jenny Jenks, at least, she stays in region and moves over to Pomona-Pitzer. I expect she’ll be in a 5-1 and if that’s the case, she’s an easy first team selection. She’s been All-Region in previous years running that system but Colorado College utilized two setters last year. There are certain players that you just love to watch when you stream a bunch of games and Ella Jimenez is one of those players. I have no clue who the NWC Player of the Year will be but since I think Whitworth will win their conference, I’m going to assume it’s Ella. She’s played both middle and outside (she moved to that position last season) so it will be interesting to see where she starts out in 2024. Oddly, if she goes back to middle, she has a better chance to be here as she may get dinged for her backrow play. Still, if she stays at outside, she’ll be one of the best blockers at that position in the region. Another Super Senior from Trinity makes the list in Mackenzie Logan. I thought she really improved last year and she should continue to be amazing in 2024. I’m going to jump out of order and talk about both Georgia McGovern and Mya Ray here because our All-Region Player of the Year will probably be one of these two incredible athletes. Mya won the SCIAC “Offensive” Athlete of the Year with Georgia winning All-Region Player of the Year. That’s a little strange since they play in the same conference. One problem is the name of the SCIAC award. Is a setter (like Georgia) offensive? I believe some SCIAC coaches didn’t think so and the voting represented that. As for my opinion, I will mimic Demi Moore in A Few Good Men and strenuously object. Setters run the offense. There are offensive in the same since as a quarterback is in football. Now, having said all of that, I had no problem with Mya winning the award. She’s really good. Whichever team has a better year probably determines the Player of the Year winner. (Side note – Why don’t conferences have a defensive POY, hitting POY, setter POY and then have a Player of the Year selected from one of those three players? Why do I have to be the only voice of reason at times?) Back to Georgia and Mya, they are awesome. Fun to watch. I’d love to see them on the same team with Georgia on the front row with two other attackers and Mya waiting in the pipe. Does the middle go up with Georgia, one of the attackers or wait a split second for Mya? Another great hitter who got to show off in the NCAA Tournament is Graycee Mosley. She was slightly behind Mya in the hitting and Points statistics last season but she’s right there with her. The difference will be in the quality of the schedule La Verne plays versus ETBU. Mya will get hers against slightly better competition. I assume Courtney Pope will play middle along with Madde Fate (who will also be in the Player of the Year mix) giving the Tigers a great combination at the position. She could also play opposite but either way she’ll be all-region. Big blocker who will continue to improve her hitting efficiency. I’m really hoping senior Avery Reid gets some All-Region love this season. You’ve got Ray/Gott at La Verne and Mosely/Reid at ETBU. Reid is a hard and smart hitter that continues to see more action on the backrow. It’s possible ETBU uses a DS for her at times and that could impact what the AVCA does with their awards.

Moving to the Honorable Mentions and we start with Audrey Cataline. I think St Thomas slots into the 2^nd or 3^rd spot in the SCAC so I believe they will be represented and Audrey is very deserving. (If St Thomas gets 2^nd then Audrey probably is First Team.) There is Ray and then slightly behind Mosley and then another tier that starts with Audrey. She’s the go-to player for the Celts and is really good on the backrow. The oversight by the SCIAC with Riley “I am” DeGroot last year was close to criminal. She was a transfer that came in and wrote stanzas for the Poets. (Was that too much? I think it was fine and certainly not over the line.) She failed to get a conference award for a team that finished fourth while leading the team in Kills and Points. She was also second in Digs for her team and 5^th in conference in Kills/Set. UC Santa Cruz is the forgotten child of Region X playing in the C2C but the SCIAC teams get to see them play. I think the Banana Slugs will be much better this year playing another tough schedule and will deserve representation. Kelly Ann Greene is their top returner and excels in blocking and hitting efficiency. The problem with selecting a Mary Hardin-Baylor player is their normally weak schedule. I’ve talked a lot about how our new selection method doesn’t care as much but the AVCA still will for their awards. Whatever the schedule, Dravyn Hurd is one of our best blockers as she actually co-led the region in Blocks/Set last year and was one of our most efficient hitters. Another good season by the Cru with some key quality wins gets Dravyn on the list. My next two were tough for different reasons. Both are liberos but there are just so many good ones out there that are probably equally deserving. With Morgan Nix coming back for her Super Senior season, she brings her video number dig statistics with her. Last season she led the nation in Digs/Set and Total Digs and didn’t get any All-Region love. The same may happen this year but she deserves some recognition. The other libero is Jenna Rodriguez but my worry here is not her skill or her abilities as they have been on display for the last two years but WDJJD? (What Does Julie Jenkins Do?) The last few years, she’s thrown me curve balls when it comes to the libero position when it comes to Rodriguez and all-everything, now graduated, Nadia Kern. If Rodriguez gets the fulltime job and Trinity does what they always do then I’m pretty sure Jenna doesn’t get Honorable Mention…she’ll be First Team. Again, the problem with Julie, and this is shared with all of the other coaches, is that she doesn’t consult me with roster decisions.

Alright! I’m pretty confident in 11 of those. Throw in a transfer or two and a couple of first-year players and you’ll probably have the end-of-the-year list. Matches in 5-days! Sending positive thoughts for health to all of our athletes. The practice injury prior to real matches is one of the worst feelings someone can go through.