Wittenberg Volleyball Student-Athletes, Coach Earn Postseason Awards

Jan Kehres

Springfield, Ohio — Three Wittenberg University volleyball standouts and Head Coach Paco Labrador have earned postseason awards from the American Volleyball Coaches Association after their record-breaking undefeated regular season.

Emily Bell, class of 2008 from Fort Wayne, Ind., and Jackie Williams, class of 2009 from Rocky River, Ohio, have been selected first-team All-Great Lakes Region, and third- and second-team All-America respectively. Jan Kehres, class of 2008 from Alliance, Ohio, picked up honorable mention all-region, while Labrador was chosen as the 2007 Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year.

The All-America awards were firsts in the illustrious careers of Bell and Williams, both of whom earned first-team all-region and honorable mention All-America a year ago. Bell, who ranks in the top 10 in school history for career kills, aces and digs, now has three first-team All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC), three first-team All-Great Lakes Region, two honorable mention All-America and one third-team All-America honor in her collegiate career.

Williams, the 2005 NCAC Newcomer of the Year and 2007 Player of the Year, now has three first-team All-NCAC, two first-team All-Great Lakes Region, one honorable mention All-America and one second-team All-America award to her credit. She leads the Tigers - and ranks among the NCAC and NCAA Division III leaders - with a .390 attack percentage, and she owns school records for attack percentage in a season and a career.

For Kehres, the honorable mention all-region award is also a career first, following her debut on the NCAC's first team. Also now in the top 10 in school history for career digs and kills, Kehres ranks second on the team in digs and third in kills in 2007.

This is the second time that Labrador has picked up the Great Lakes Region Coach of the Year award, following the honor he claimed in 2004. Now owner of a sparkling 169-23 record in five years at the helm of the Tiger program, Labrador also has earned NCAC Coach of the Year each of the last two years.

Wittenberg won the NCAC regular season title for the 12th time in the last 13 years and added a 12th NCAC Tournament title in the last 13 years a week later. The Tigers, the only unbeaten team in all of collegiate volleyball, are playing in their 13th NCAA Division III Tournament, including 12 in a row. Wittenberg will face Stevens Institute of Technology at 8:30 p.m. CDT in a quarterfinal match at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill.

Photo By: Robert Gantt

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