Volleyball Standout Jackie Williams Named Second-Team All-America

Jackie Williams

Springfield, Ohio — Wittenberg University volleyball standout Jackie Williams, class of 2009 from Rocky River, Ohio, has been named second-team All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).

Williams, the 2005 North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Newcomer of the Year and 2007 and 2008 Player of the Year, now has four first-team All-NCAC, three first-team All-Great Lakes Region and three All-America awards to her credit in what will go down as one of the finest careers in Wittenberg volleyball history. She was a 2006 honorable mention All-American and a 2007 second-team All-American.

Williams is one of 11 Wittenberg players to earn All-America honors - all since 1995. She joins Sarah Yuskewich, class of 2005, and Emily Bell, class of 2008, as Wittenberg's only three-time All-Americans. Yuskewich earned three first-team designations (2002, 2003 and 2004), while Bell was an honorable mention selection in 2005 and 2006 before gaining third-team honors a year ago.

Williams' NCAC-leading .375 attack percentage in 2008 was the second-best in school and NCAC history, trailing her own record of .382 established a year ago. Amazingly, Williams has four of the top seven season attack percentages in school history and comfortably owns the career record for both the Wittenberg program and the conference.

"Jackie has been a force during her career at Wittenberg," said Tigers' Head Coach Paco Labrador, who finished his sixth season on the bench with a record of 203-27. "It's quite an accomplishment to be as effective as she has been considering the fact that for the last 2 seasons, it was no secret she was going to get the ball. She really had to work to expand her game in order to overcome how much opposing teams would key in on stopping her."

Ranked seventh in Wittenberg history with 1,379 career kills, Williams finished the 2008 regular season ranked 11th nationally in attack percentage. Along with fellow seniors Jessica Kimble, Kathleen Graham and Laura Fender, Williams helped the Tigers to three NCAC regular season titles, three NCAC Tournament crowns, three NCAA Division III Great Lakes Region titles and three national semifinal appearances during her collegiate career. Wittenberg's record in the last four years is 140-17, including a 53-1 mark against conference opponents.

Wittenberg won the NCAC regular season title for the 13th time in the last 14 years and added a 13th NCAC Tournament title in the last 14 years a week later. The Tigers bowed out of their 14th NCAA Division III Tournament - and their 13th in a row - in the Great Lakes Regional semifinals with a 3-2 home loss to Ohio Northern on Friday, Nov. 14. Wittenberg was ranked fifth in the final AVCA national poll after holding the top spot in the Great Lakes Region for the entire season.

Written By: Ryan Maurer
Photo By: Brad Tucker

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