2017 AVCA DIVISION III ALL-REGION SELECTIONS

MINNEAPOLIS -- Three Augsburg University volleyball players earned Division III Central Region honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Thursday.

Middle blocker Taylor Linn (SR, Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View HS) earned AVCA All-Central Region honors for the second straight year, while libero Macey Terhell (JR, Osceola, Wis.) and setter Morgan Malley (JR, Harmony, Minn./Fillmore Central HS) earned AVCA All-Central Region Honorable Mention recognition. Terhell was an All-Central Region honoree last year, while the region honor is the first for Malley. Last year, Linn and Terhell were also named as AVCA Division III All-America Honorable Mention honorees.

Augsburg joined Gustavus and Northwestern-St. Paul as the only schools to have three individuals on either the 14-person All-Central Region or six-player All-Central Region Honorable Mention squads. The AVCA Central Region squad includes players from Division III schools in Minnesota, Iowa and Missouri. Augsburg has now had 11 players earn AVCA All-Region honors since 2013.

A middle blocker, Linn has also earned All-Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors in both her junior and senior seasons, developing a reputation as one of the top "six-rotation" (all-around) players in the MIAC. Linn finished her senior season with 353 kills (3.10 per-set), hitting .266, while also recording 93 blocks (14 solo, 0.82 per-set), 384 digs (3.37 per-set) and 24 service aces (0.21 per-set). In the MIAC's overall statistics, Linn ranks third in total kills and sixth in kills per-set, third in total blocks and 10th in blocks per-set, fourth in block assists and seventh in solo blocks, and ninth in digs and 14th in digs per-set. 

This season, Linn recorded double-digit kill totals in 18 of her 30 matches, including 12 kill-dig double-doubles, while also recording three-plus blocks in 17 matches. In her four years at Augsburg (113 matches, 407 sets), Linn finished her career with 928 kills (sixth-most in school history), 2.28 kills per-set, a .207 attack percentage, 879 digs (2.05 per-set), 300 blocks (second in school history), 0.74 blocks per-set (tied for eighth in school history), 33 solo blocks, 267 block assists (first in school history) and 66 service aces (0.16 per-set). Her 113 matches played are 10th-most in school history.

Terhell, a libero, was named the MIAC's Co-Defensive Player of the Year this season, becoming the fifth MIAC player ever to repeat as the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Through Tuesday's play, Terhell leads the MIAC's overall statistics in both total digs (628) and digs per-set (5.32). Among NCAA Division III players nationally, Terhell ranks 19th in total digs. She is one of only two Auggies to have played in all 118 sets this season. She had 20-plus digs in 12 matches this season, and had a serve-receive percentage of .934.

In Tuesday's MIAC playoff quarterfinal win at Gustavus, Terhell became Augsburg's all-time career digs leader with 1,765 in 87 matches (329 sets), passing the old mark of 1,718, set by Cassi Van Ausdall (1997-2000). She also has 74 service aces and 191 assists in her three Auggie seasons.

In her first season as Augsburg's starting setter, Malley became a solid all-around player, standing second among MIAC setters in both overall assists (1,185) and assists per-set (10.68), while also contributing 339 digs (3.05 per-set), 46 blocks (two solo, 0.41 per-set), 32 service aces (0.29 per-set) and 113 kills (1.02 per-set) at a team-best .279 clip. In NCAA Division III national statistics, she currently ranks 10th nationally in assists per-set and ninth in total assists.

This season, she has recorded 17 assist-dig double-doubles and two rare kill-assist-dig triple-doubles. She has recorded 30-plus assists in 26 of her 29 matches played this season, including 16 40-plus assist matches and four matches with 50-plus assists. In her three seasons (85 matches, 314 sets), Malley now has 1,804 career assists (5.75 per-set), 212 kills (0.68 per-set), 770 digs (2.45 per-set) and 56 blocks (two solo, 0.18 per-set). She currently ranks eighth in school history in both career assists and career assists per-set.

Under eighth-year head coach Jane Becker, Augsburg finished 19-12 overall (7-4 in MIAC play) in 2017, reaching the MIAC postseason playoffs for the sixth time in the last 10 years. Augsburg has recorded 16-plus wins in each of the last 10 seasons.