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Creighton Volleyball Leads Nation With Program-Record Five AVCA All-Americans

Courtesy of Creighton Athletics
OMAHA, Neb. -- Creighton Volleyball saw the American Volleyball Coaches Association recognize a program-record and nation-leading five Bluejay student-athletes with All-America honors on Wednesday.  Kendra Wait became the program's first player to earn First Team All-America honors, Norah Sis the first player to obtain Second Team All-America accolades, and Ava Martin landed Third Team All-America plaudits. Additionally, Maddy Bilinovic and Elise Goetzinger  both were named Honorable Mention All-Americans.

Creighton was the only school with five women to be recognized, as well as the only program to place at least one woman on the First Team, Second Team and Third Team. Other teams with four All-America honorees were Final Four qualifiers Louisville, Nebraska, Pittsburgh and Penn State, as well as Big 12 champion Arizona State.

Creighton and Marquette were the only BIG EAST Conference schools to be represented in the 2024 honors, as MU's Yadhira Anchante was an Honorable Mention pick.

This year marks the 13th straight season that Creighton has had at least one All-American, with multiple All-Americans in nine of the past 10 campaigns. The only other schools with multiple All-Americans each of the past four years are now Creighton, Kentucky, Louisville, Nebraska, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Stanford and Wisconsin. CU's five All-Americans are two more than its previous high of three done in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2021.

Each of the three AVCA All-America Teams is comprised of 14 athletes. The Division I AVCA National Player of the Year will be announced on Friday at the AVCA All-America/Players of the Year Banquet. The AVCA selected just 56 student-athletes as AVCA All-America Honorable Mention.

Wait makes history as the first Creighton Volleyball player to earn AVCA All-America accolades four times, having previously been a Third Team pick in 2023 and an Honorable Mention choice in 2021 and 2022.  She repeated as BIG EAST Player of the Year and BIG EAST Setter of the Year in 2024 as the Gardner, Kan., product led the BIG EAST in assists per set (10.97) for the fourth straight season, good for 12th nationally. The four-time All-BIG EAST honoree's setting helped Creighton establish a program record for hitting percentage (.324), the second-best mark in the country. 

Sis ranked second in the BIG EAST in both kills per set (3.78) and points per set (4.50) as well as being third with 0.45 service aces per set. The Papillion, Neb., product finished her career second in CU history in career kills (1,664) and fifth in aces (113). This is the third AVCA All-America honor for Sis, as she was named a Third Team All-American as a freshman in 2021 and an Honorable Mention pick in 2022 following her sophomore campaign. The four-time All-BIG EAST pick joins Kelli Browning (2012, 2013, 2014) and Jaali Winters (2015, 2016, 2018) as the only Bluejays to own exactly three AVCA All-America certificates.

A junior outside hitter from Overland Park, Kan., Martin owned 428 kills (3.66 kps.) and her 56 aces were second-most in program history. In BIG EAST play, Martin led the league in aces per set while ranking second in hitting percentage, points per set and kills per set. Martin earned her third consecutive All-BIG EAST recognition and second All-America plaudit after being an Honorable Mention choice last fall. She was one of two Bluejays named to the All-Tournament Team at last weekend's Penn State Regional.

Bilinovic's lone year in a Bluejay uniform was a memorable one, as the senior libero from Independence, Ohio, paced the Bluejays with 440 digs and was fourth on the team with 32 service aces. With Bilinovic serving as the quarterback of the Bluejay defense, CU allowed teams to hit just .130 this season, the nation's second-best figure. This is Bilinovic's first career All-America honor.

Goetzinger was awarded Honorable Mention status after averaging 2.40 kills and 1.06 blocks per set in her only season at Creighton. Her BIG EAST-leading .376 attack percentage is the second-best mark in CU single-season history and good enough for the Blue Mounds, Wis., native to set the Creighton career mark in that category.

Bilinovic and Goetzinger are the only players in program history to be named an All-American in their lone year at Creighton.

Creighton now owns 34 all-time AVCA All-America accolades in program history, which have been earned by 18 different women.

Creighton finished the 2024 season in the Elite Eight on Sunday with a 32-3 overall record after making its 13th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Bluejays won their 11th straight BIG EAST regular-season title while also capturing their 10th league tournament title in the past 11 campaigns.

The selections were made by the AVCA Division I All-America Committee: Chair: Matt Ulmer (Oregon); East Coast Region: Kimberly Lambert (Delaware); Midwest Region: Kelli Miller Phillips (Ball State); Central Region: Christy Johnson-Lynch (Iowa State); Northwest Region: Leanne Williamson (Southwest); North Region: Caitlin Schwihofer (Rutgers); Pacific Region: Branden Higa (Cal Baptist); Southeast Region: Jackie Simpson Kirr (Clemson); South Region: Eve Rackham (Tennessee); Southwest Region: JT Wenger (UT Arlington).

CREIGHTON'S AVCA FIRST TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
Kendra Wait - 2024

CREIGHTON'S AVCA SECOND TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
Norah Sis - 2024

CREIGHTON'S AVCA THIRD TEAM ALL-AMERICANS
Kelli Browning - 2014
Lydia Dimke - 2016
Ava Martin - 2024
Norah Sis - 2021
Kendra Wait - 2023
Jaali Winters - 2015, '18
Brittany Witt - 2019

CREIGHTON'S AVCA HONORABLE MENTION ALL-AMERICANS
Maddy Bilinovic - 2024
Megan Bober - 2010, '12
Kelli Browning - 2012, '13
Madelyn Cole - 2018,  '19
Lydia Dimke - 2017
Kelly Goc - 2007
Elise Goetzinger - 2024
Jessica Houts - 2008
Taryn Kloth - 2016, '18
Ava Martin - 2023
Michelle Sicner - 2013
Norah Sis - 2022
Lauren Smith - 2015
Kendra Wait - 2021, 2022
Marysa Wilkinson - 2017
Jaali Winters - 2016
Brittany Witt - 2017
Jaela Zimmerman - 2020, 2021
 
2024 AVCA DIVISION I ALL-AMERICANS
First-Team All-Americans
First Name Last Name School Pos. Class
Olivia Babcock University of Pittsburgh RS So.
Brooklyn DeLeye University of Kentucky OH So.
Rachel Fairbanks University of Pittsburgh S Sr.
Sarah Franklin University of Wisconsin OH Sr.
Andi Jackson University of Nebraska MB So.
Kennedy Martin University of Florida RS So.
Kami Miner Stanford University S Sr.
Jess Mruzik Penn State University OH Gr.
Melanie Parra TCU OH Sr.
Lexi Rodriguez University of Nebraska L Sr.
Elia Rubin Stanford University OH Jr.
Elena Scott University of Louisville L Sr.
Torrey Stafford University of Pittsburgh OH So.
Kendra Wait Creighton University S Sr.
Second-Team All-Americans
First Name Last Name School Pos. Class
Nina Cajic University of Tennessee OH Gr.
Raven Colvin Purdue University   MB Sr.
Mimi  Colyer University of Oregon OH Jr.
Anna  DeBeer University of Louisville OH Gr.
Sami Francis Stanford University MB Sr.
Emma Grome University of Kentucky S Sr.
Eva Hudson Purdue University   OH Jr.
Bre Kelley University of Pittsburgh MB RS-Jr.
Logan Lednicky Texas A&M University RS Jr.
Harper Murray University of Nebraska OH So.
Bergen Reilly University of Nebraska S So.
Norah Sis Creighton University OH Sr.
Madisen Skinner University of Texas OH Sr.
Izzy Starck Penn State University S Fr.
Third-Team All-Americans
First Name Last Name School Pos. Class
Lexie Almodovar University of Dayton OH RS-Sr.
Charlie Fuerbringer University of Wisconsin S Fr.
Flormarie Heredia Colon University of Miami OH Jr.
Audrey Koenig Florida State University OH Sr.
Khori Louis Florida State University MB Sr.
Ava Martin Creighton University OH Jr.
Onye Ofoegbu University of Oregon MB  RS-Sr.
Alexis Shelton University of Oklahoma OH Jr.
Naya Shime Southern Methodist University RS Gr.
Raina Terry University of Illinois OH Gr.
Mia Tuaniga University of Southern California S Sr.
Camryn Turner University of Kansas   S Sr.
Argentina Ung Arizona State University S Gr.
Mychael Vernon University of Missouri OH Gr.
Honorable Mention
First Name Last Name School Pos. Class
Caylen Alexander University of Hawaii OH Jr.
Yadhira Anchante Marquette University S Gr.
Maria Clara Andrade University of South Florida OH Jr.
Ally Batenhorst University of Southern California OH Gr.
Milan Bayless Colgate University OH So.
Bianca Bertolino Georgia Tech OH Sr.
Maddy Bilinovic Creighton University L Sr.
Kamryn Chaney Princeton University OH So.
Syd Cole University of Northern Colorado S Gr.
Ifenna Cos-Okpalla Texas A&M University MB Jr.
Kaylee Cox Western Kentucky University OH Sr.
Cara Cresse University of Louisville MB RS-Jr.
Celia Cullen Southern Methodist University S Gr.
Geli Cyr Arizona State University OH Sr.
Macy  Daufeldt Drake University OH Jr.
Alexa Edwards University of the Pacific OH Gr.
Skye Ekes Mercer University OH Sr.
Kira Fallert University of Northern Iowa OH Sr.
Brianna Ford University of Texas Arlington RS Gr.
Elena Giacomini Quinnipiac University RS Gr.
Kamryn Gibadlo University of Utah OH So.
Elise Goetzinger Creighton University MB Sr.
Camryn Hannah Penn State University OH Gr.
Julia Hanson University of Minnesota OH Jr.
Tori Hester Troy University OH Sr.
Cicily Hidalgo Southeastern Louisiana University OH Sr.
Lauryn Hovey Bowling Green State University RS Jr.
Tsvetelina Ilieva Binghamton University OH Sr.
Jordan Iliff University of Missouri RS Sr.
Madolyn Isringhausen Tennessee Tech University OH Sr.
Claire Jeter Arizona State University MB Gr.
Malaya Jones Colorado State University RS RS-Sr.
Shelby Kent Florida Gulf Coast University OH Sr.
Caroline Kerr University of Tennessee S RS-So.
Patrycja Lagida Chicago State University OH So.
Cheridyn Leverette UCLA OH Jr.
Claire Little Brigham Young University OH So.
Grace Lopez University of Miami OH So.
Charitie Luper University of Louisville OH Sr.
Dylan Maberry High Point University OH Gr.
Elise McGhee Baylor University OH Sr.
Rya McKinnon Howard University OH Jr.
Michelle Ohwobete University of Oregon OH Sr.
Toyosi Onabanjo University of Kansas   MB Sr.
Kylee Owens Prairie View A&M University OH Jr.
Panna Ratkai Purdue University Fort Wayne OH RS-So.
Amanda Rice North Carolina State University RS Sr.
Maya Sands University of Missouri L Jr.
Melani Shaffmaster University of Minnesota S  RS-Sr.
Mary Shroll Arizona State University L Gr.
Taylor Trammell Penn State University MB Sr.
Nia Washington University of Mississippi OH Jr.
Kaya Weaver University of Texas El Paso MB Jr.
Riley Whitesides University of South Carolina OH Gr.
Sylvie Zgonc South Dakota State University OH So.