AVCA All-Region Teams release

A pair of Laker seniors earned recognition from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), as setter Kaitlyn Wolters and libero Christina Canepa were named to the All-Midwest Region Team, released on Wednesday (Nov. 26). Wolters was honored to the 14-member team, while Canepa was one of six players to garner honorable mention status.

The AVCA All-Region teams are not split into separate teams; there are just 14 players from each of the eight regions honored as all-region selections. 10 of the 14 Midwest Region players were from the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), while the other four came from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). 

Head coaches from the respective schools in each region vote on the AVCA All-Region teams.

As an All-Region honoree, Wolters will advance to the All-America ballot. Last season, she was an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention choice. 

The 2014 GLIAC Player of the Year and the first-ever GLIAC Setter of the Year, Wolters has put together a banner 2014 season. She leads GVSU, as well as the entire conference, with a .418 hitting percentage, collecting 159 kills, fourth-most on the Lakers. Of course, her primary job is setting and she has done that extremely well. Wolters had tallied 1,016 assists, good for 9.77 per set, while adding a team-best 40 service aces. 

She has been just as strong defensively, totaling 304 digs and 44 total blocks. Wolters has been named to the All-GLIAC First Team in each of her two seasons as a Laker. Her 2,267 career assists are eighth-most in school history, while her 9.99 assists per set are fifth-best.

Also an All-GLIAC First Team choice, Canepa is the defensive catalyst of a GVSU team allowing opponents to hit just .112, the fifth-lowest mark in Division II. She is picking up 4.87 digs per set and 511 total digs, the seventh-best single season figure in school history. Canepa owns three of the top-10 single-season dig totals in Laker history.

The 2014 GLIAC Libero of the Year - just the second Laker to ever earn that honor - Canepa has recorded 1,709 career digs, the second-highest total by a Grand Valley State player. She trails only former Laker great Allyson Riley, whose 2,488 digs are not only the school record, but also the best ever mark in conference history. Canepa's 4.13 digs per set are also the second-best figure in GVSU history.

Both Canepa and Wolters were named to the Midwest Region All-Tournament Team last weekend, as the Lakers swept Missouri S&T, #17 Ferris State, and Rockhurst en route to their ninth Midwest Region championship. Each player was also voted to the Daktronics All-Midwest Region First Team, voted on by sports information directors in the region.

The other GLIAC players voted to the Midwest Region Team were freshman middle blocker Nickyla Garverick and sophomore outside hitter Hannah Tong from Findlay and junior outside hitter Megan Vander Meer of Ferris State. Rockhurst's Tracy Rietzke was the Midwest Region Coach of the Year, while McKendree outside hitter Arela Williams was the Region Freshman of the Year.