Ilkson and Lively Tabbed As AVCA Division III Honorable Mention All-Americans
Springfield, Mass. - November 19, 2008 - After leading the Pride to a 32-5 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, senior Aylene Ilkson and sophomore Heather Lively were recently selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) as Division III Honorable Mention All-Americans.This marks the first time since 2005 that the Pride had a player selected as an All-American, as Leah Hettrick was honored that season. This also is the first time since 2004 that Springfield has had two members honored by the AVCA. In 2004, both Alesia Vaccari and Ashley Reves were honorable mention selections.
Ilkson, a native of Baldwin, N.Y. capped off her tremendous career at Springfield with an outstanding senior campaign. The outside hitter finished the year with a team-best 532 digs, averaging just over four per game. She finished third on the team in kills with 276 and second in overall points with 323 on the season. She finished her career with 1,591 digs, which ranks third all-time in Springfield history. Ilkson also racked up NEWMAC All-Conference Second Team honors, and was named to the AVCA New England All-Region Team.
In her first season at Springfield, Lively made quite the impact as she picked up All-America accolades. The Royalston, Mass. native was tabbed the NEWMAC Player of the Year, joined Ilkson on the AVCA New England All-Region Team, and was selected as the New England Player of the Year by the New England Women's Volleyball Association. Lively led the squad with 523 kills, the fourth-highest single season mark in Springfield history. Hitting at a .281 clip, she averaged 4.05 kills per game and added 66 blocks on the season, second-best on the squad.
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Head Coach Joel Dearing
Joel Dearing will enter his 21st season as head women's volleyball coach at his alma mater in the fall of 2009. Dearing is regarded nationally as one of the sport’s best coaches and he has the resume to prove it. Dearing ranks in the top-10 in Division III history with a 670-298 (.692) overall mark in 28 seasons as a women’s volleyball coach.
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