Tusculum’s Dean Earns First Team All-American Accolades from Daktronics, Wingate’s Willis Named to Second Team
The Daktronics All-America Volleyball Team recognized a pair of SAC student-athletes on Wednesday, naming Tusculum's Caitlyn Dean to the First Team and Wingate's Liz Willis to the Second Team.
WAYNE, Neb. - The Daktronics All-America Volleyball Team recognized a pair of SAC student-athletes on Wednesday, naming Tusculum's Caitlyn Dean to the First Team and Wingate's Liz Willis to the Second Team.
Dean earns first-team accolades from Daktronics for the second-straight season, while Willis' second-team selection comes after also earning third team All-American honors from the AVCA earlier this week.
In addition to the All-American honors, Willis was both the SAC and AVCA Southeast Region Player of the Year, while Dean earned All-Region honorable mention accolades and was a first team All-SAC selection.
Dean led Tusculum to an 18-13 record in 2011, as the Pioneers earned an at-large selection to the NCAA Volleyball Championship. She finished third in the nation by averaging 6.45 digs-per-set.
Dean is the first volleyball player in Tusculum history to earn All-America accolades in multiple seasons.
Willis, who was also named the SAC Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, guided Wingate to a 32-1 record, including a perfect 18-0 conference mark. The Bulldogs won the 2011 Food Lion SAC Volleyball Championship, and advanced to the Southeast Region Final of the NCAA Volleyball Championship.
Willis led the SAC by averaging 11.72 assists-per-set, and was a three-time selection as the league's Specialist of the Week.
The Daktronics NCAA DII All-America teams are selected by the members of the Division II College Sports Information Directors of America.