November 12, 2015

AVCA All-Region release

BLUFFTON, Ohio - For the first time since 1997 and just the third time in school history, the Bluffton University volleyball team placed a member of its squad on the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region Team. Senior Jenny Brown (St. Marys/Memorial) took the conference by storm in 2012 and she never stopped improving as evidenced by her selection as a First Team All-Great Lakes Region honoree this season. Brown is in rarefied air as the first Heartland Conference volleyball player to be named All-Region since Jamie Grauvogel from Mount St. Joseph was honored in 2010. The talented middle followed in the footsteps of Jennifer McDaniel and Sara Lehman Wakefield who were named AVCA All-Region in 1996 and 1997, respectively.

While many players struggle to keep up with expectations for their final season, Jenny Brown blew them out of the water with her finest year as a Beaver. And that is saying something for the only volleyball player in Bluffton history to be a First Team All-Heartland Conference selection for four straight years! Brown obliterated the previous single-season hitting percentage high of .318, set by Courtney Zimmerman in 2010, with her off the charts .353 this year.

Her career hitting percentage of .292 is on the verge of overtaking Zimmerman's .293 mark heading into the NCAA Regionals against Wittenberg. Brown is currently fourth all-time with 1,265 career kills and her 2.61 kills per set is ninth all-time. At the net, Brown continued to fluster Bluffton's opponents, racking up 102 blocks which has her at 396 total as a Beaver, good for sixth all-time on the career list. Brown's 373 kills this season place her third in the conference, while her .353 hitting percentage was second to HCAC Most Valuable Player Courtney Crawford's .354 attacking percentage. Brown was a three time HCAC Offensive Player of the Week and she was named the HCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player.

For the third consecutive season and the fourth time in the past seven years, Coach Yarnell and his Bluffton University volleyball team will play in the NCAA Regionals following their Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament championship win at host and #1 seed Hanover. The Beavers will travel nearly 400 miles for a date with #6 ranked Wittenberg University on Friday, November 13, 2015. The contest between Ohio foes will take place on the campus of #1 seed and #3 ranked Juniata College in Huntingdon, Penn.

Continue to check the Bluffton University Volleyball schedule page for tournament updates, scores and recaps at http://www.bluffton.edu/athletics/volleyball/2015/schedule.html.

-BEAVERS-