Wingate’s Willis, Hilton Earn AVCA All-American Honors

LEXINGTON, Ky.-- Wingate University senior setter Liz Willis continues to pile up the accolades, earning third team All-American honors from the AVCA Monday afternoon. Willis becomes the second player in Wingate volleyball history to be named to an All-American team. In addition, redshirt sophomore right-side hitter Anna Hilton was named an honorable mention All-American.

The duo led Wingate to its first-ever undefeated regular season, while also leading the Bulldogs to their sixth consecutive SAC title and fifth straight undefeated SAC season. The Bulldogs made their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, while hosting the NCAA Southeast Regionals for the fourth straight year.

[COMPLETE AVCA ALL-AMERICAN TEAM]

Wingate was ranked in every AVCA Top 25 poll in the 2011 season, charting as high as number 14, which is the highest in SAC history. The Bulldogs have appeared in the last three regional title matches, while becoming the first-ever SAC school to make the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in 2010. At 32-1 overall, the Bulldogs once again rank among the national leaders in winning percentage. Wingate led the nation in 2007 and 2010, while ranking third in 2008 and 2009.

The Bulldogs are 163-9 overall since the start of the 2007 season, leading the nation with a .948 winning percentage. Wingate will enter the 2012 season looking to extend its league-record 82 match SAC winning streak, while also riding a 50-match regular season winning streak.

Willis joins two-time All-American Stormi Gale as the only other Bulldog volleyball player to be named to an All-American team. Gale earned third team All-American honors from the AVCA in 2009 and 2010, while earning first team honors from Daktronics in 2009 and second team accolades in 2010. Hilton is the fourth Bulldog to earn honorable mention All-American honors, joining Melissa DeLuca (2007), Lauren Billo (2009) and Maggie Malone (2009).

Willis adds this accomplishment to an incredible list of season and career achievements. The SAC and Region Player of the Year, Willis was also named the SAC Scholar-Athlete Award winner and SAC Tournament MVP in 2011. She is the only volleyball player in league history to earn the big three awards in one season, while also becoming the first-ever player to be named Freshman of the Year, Player of the Year and SAC Scholar-Athlete Award winner in a career.

An NCAA Southeast Region All-Tournament team member, Willis led the SAC and ranked fourth nationally with 11.72 assists per set, adding 2.77 digs per set and 57 kills on the year. Willis notched 10 double-doubles on the year, while handing out at least 40 assists 15 times. She had a career-high 60 assists in her final match at Wingate. Willis earned All-SAC and All-Region honors in all four of her seasons at Wingate, while leading the Bulldogs to an incredible overall record of 130-7 in her career.

"Everyone at Wingate knows about the special qualities Liz has as a person, as a leader and as a student," Wingate head coach Shelton Collier says. "For her to be formally selected as an All-American is a significant documentation of her performance, her statistics and her credentials as truly one of the top volleyball players in the country this season. Liz arrived at Wingate four years ago as a hard-working, determined player; she is leaving as one of the most successful setters in the history of Division II women's volleyball. This is a tremendous honor for her and is also significant national recognition for Wingate."

Hilton earned first team All-SAC honors in her second season at Wingate, while earning first team All-Region honors from Daktronics. She was third in the SAC with a .303 hitting percentage, while ranking seventh with 3.12 kills per set. Hilton also finished second on the team with 2.96 digs and 0.74 blocks per set on the year.

Hilton led the team with 12 double-doubles on the season, while piling up double-digit kills 22 times. Hilton hit .400 or better 12 times in 2011. She followed a 16-kill, 14-dig performance at Mars Hill with 17 kills and 10 digs at LMU. Hilton had 16 kills and 15 digs at Catawba, while notching 10 kills with a .588 hitting percentage against LMU. She had 14 kills and a career-best 24 digs at Tusculum, while collecting 12 kills, 16 digs and a .522 hitting percentage at Lenoir-Rhyne. Hilton had 10 kills, 10 digs and a .400 hitting percentage in the regional semifinal sweep over Catawba.

"Anna receiving honorable mention honors is awesome in so many ways," Collier says. "She truly emerged as a special player this season, with her exceptional attacking as well as with her tremendous all-around game. She without question had the most outstanding and consistent high-level performance of any player in the South Atlantic Conference this past season, so for her to receive such impressive notoriety at the national level is quite significant for her and for Wingate."

- Courtesy Wingate Media Relations