So-Holloway Named Mid-Atlantic Region Player of the Year; Five Tartans Receive AVCA All-Region Recognition

(LEXINGTON, Ky.) – Junior setter Maia So-Holloway (Oakland, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral) of the Carnegie Mellon University volleyball team was named Mid-Atlantic Region American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Player of the Year. So-Holloway becomes the first Tartan to receive the region's top award. Joining the junior on the Mid-Atlantic Region team are senior outside hitter Lauren Mueller (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown SIEM Academy), senior opposite Sarah Jurgens (Eagan, Minn.), junior middle blocker Erika Foose (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) and junior libero Kayla Yew (San Francisco, Calif./Sacred Heart Cathedral).

It marks the third straight season that Mueller has been honored by the AVCA while it is the second straight season for So-Holloway, Jurgens and Yew. For Foose, this is her first appearance.

So-Holloway, a first team All-University Athletic Association (UAA) honoree, leads the team and ranks second in the UAA with 1,180 assists. Her 53 service aces are tops on the Tartans and ranks third best in the Association. The junior recorded a career-best 58 assists against Alma and tabbed a career-best eight service aces against Franciscan. In UAA play, So-Holloway was tops with 297 assists, including five matches of 40 or more, and was second with 13 aces.

Mueller was named to the All-UAA second team and is second in the Association with 367 kills and 3.40 kills per game. She has recorded 350 digs this season, ranking second on the team. Mueller has recorded double-digit kills in 20 of her 31 matches played this season, including a career-best 24 against Alma. In UAA play, Mueller was tops in the Association with 96 kills including eight matches with double-digit kills.

Jurgens ranks second on the team with 353 kills, 3.12 kills per game and a hitting percentage of .304, all ranking in the top 10 of the UAA. The senior has recorded 20 double-digit kill matches and recorded her 1,000th career kill earlier this season at the Carnegie Mellon DoubleTree Invitational.

Foose, a second team All-UAA selection, leads the team with a .341 hitting percentage and ranks fifth in the UAA. Foose is third on the team with 264 kills and 2.44 kills per set. She recorded a career-best 17 kills against Muhlenberg while recording 16 kills against nationally ranked Emory and Chicago. The junior has recorded 69 total blocks, which ranks second on the Tartans. In UAA play, Foose ranks second with a .398 hitting percentage.

Yew leads the UAA with 600 digs and 5.31 digs per game, as the junior garnered second team accolades from the Association. Her 37 service aces ranks fourth on the team and 10th in the UAA. She currently ranks fifth on the school's all-time digs list with 1,652. The junior has recorded double-digit digs in 31 of 32 matches played this season, including a career-best 45 against Muhlenberg.

Carnegie Mellon will play Morrisville State on Friday, November 9 at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York, at 3:00 p.m. in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Division III Women's Volleyball Championship. It marks the Tartans sixth appearance, third straight, and fifth under 14-year head coach Kim Kelly.