Three Tartans Named to the All-UAA Volleyball Squad

(ROCHESTER, N.Y.) – Three Carnegie Mellon University volleyball players were named to the All-University Athletic Association (UAA) team when the squads were announced November 10.  Junior middle blocker Jackie Gibbons (Evanston, Ill./Evanston Township) was named to the first team, junior setter Emily Newton (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Chadwick School) earned second team honors while junior libero Molly Higgins (Vero Beach, Fla./Vero Beach) was named honorable mention.
    
Gibbons is making her third appearance on the squad, after being named to the second team a year ago and honorable mention following her freshman campaign. Newton and Higgins both are repeat honorees for their respective awards.
    
Gibbons appeared in all 121 sets played during the regular season, marking the third straight season she has done so, while leading the team with a hitting percentage of .359, which ranks fifth in the UAA, along with 333 kills and 2.75 kills per game.  The junior finished second on the team with 70 blocks and 31 service aces. She tallied a career-best 18 kills in the Tartans victory over nationally-ranked Mount Union.  

Newton leads the team with 1,137 assists which ranks her fourth in the UAA and needs two more to move into 10th on the school's single-season assist chart.  The junior also leads the team with 50 service aces, which is tops in the association as well.  In the Tartans win against nationally-ranked Chicago, Newton tallied a career-best 54 assists.
    
Higgins leads the UAA with 664 digs and 5.58 digs per game, while her 664 digs is a single-season school record. Her 31 service aces ties her with Gibbons for second best on the team.  Higgins recorded a career-best 37 digs in the Tartans win over Chicago and had 32 matches of double-digit digs this season, including 16 matches of 20 or more.  The junior posted a career-best five service aces against Point Park.

The Tartans (27-7), ranked 25th nationally, were selected as the number one-seed in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region Tournament and will host Marymount University in the first round of the eight-team regional on Wednesday, November 11 at 6:00 p.m.