Three #BIGEASTvb Players Awarded AVCA All-American Honors
Pittsburgh, Pa. – Creighton’s Brittany Wit and Madelyn Cole, as well as Marquette’s Allie Barber were honored by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) this week as the trio was awarded All-American honors.
Witt, was named a Third-Team All-American after earning her second BIG EAST Libero of the Year recognition this fall. The senior Omaha, Neb., native led the BIG EAST with 5.09 digs per set. Witt finished her career with a program-record 2,079 digs and ranks third with 122 career aces. Witt was named an Honorable Mention All-American in 2017.
Cole earns All-America Honorable-Mention acclaim for the second straight season, as the senior from Dallas, Texas, led the BIG EAST with 11.03 assists per set and paced Creighton with 42 service aces. Cole finished her career second in program history with 0.413 aces per set and eighth with 93 career aces. Cole was named East Region Player of the Year a week ago.
Barber picked up Honorable Mention honors and earned her third-consecutive All-American recognition. The Cedarburg, Wisconsin native finished her career as Marquette's all-time kills leader with 1,871 career kills, including 570 in 2019, which ranks fifth in the NCAA. Barber tallied 4.67 kills per set this season, ranking 16
th in the country to lead the BIG EAST. She was a unanimous selection for BIG EAST Player of the Year, becoming just the fourth player in 30 years to repeat the honor that she also won in 2017. Barber also earned unanimous All-BIG EAST accolades and was one of just four players in the country to average 4.67 kills per set, while hitting at above a .305 hitting percentage. Barber was also named CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year with a 3.98 GPA.
The selections were made by the AVCA Division I All-America Committee:
Chair: Cathy George, Michigan State; East Region: Christy Pfeffenberger, Xavier; East Coast Region: Aaron Smith, Virginia; Midwest Region: Mike Gawlik, Central Michigan; North Region: Shane Davis, Northwestern; Northeast Region: Sabrina King, Princeton; Pacific North Region: Erin Lindsey, Santa Clara; Pacific South Region: Jesse Mahoney, Colorado; South Region: Brandon Rosenthal, Lipscomb; Southeast Region: Tom Mendoza, South Carolina; Southwest Region: Lindsey Gray-Walton, Oklahoma.
2019 AVCA Division I All-Americans
Brittany Witt, Creighton, Sr., L (Third-Team)
Madelyn Cole, Creighton, Sr., S (Honorable Mention)
Allie Barber, Marquette, Sr., OH (Honorable Mention)
For the full list of AVCA All-America Teams, please click
here.