Three Spartans Garner AVCA All-Region Honors

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Set to compete in its 20^th consecutive regional tournament, the No. 3 University of Tampa volleyball team placed three athletes on the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-South Region Team as announced Wednesday by the association office.

Senior Marissa Lisenbee and Berkley Whaley earn the accolade for the third consecutive season while fellow senior Jessica Wagner was named to the regional squad for back-to-back seasons.

The offensive trio has led the Spartans to a 26-5 overall record and the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament.  The three have combined for 1,132 kills this season at a torrid .323 attack percentage, adding 541 digs and 243 blocks for UT.

Right side hitter Lisenbee is second on the team in kills with 381 in her final season of play. The senior eclipsed her 1000^th career kill on Nov. 11 in a 3-1 win over Eckerd.  The Seminole, Fla. native is hitting .287 on the season while posting career-highs in both kills and digs with 180 on defense.  The Human Performance major has picked up her third selection to the All-Region squad and also earned All-Sunshine State Conference First Team honors earlier this year.

Whaley anchors the Spartan's offense from the outside hitter position, leading the team in kills with 428 in her senior season of action.  The St. Petersburg, Fla. product has totaled 1305 kills in just three seasons as a Spartan, sitting 10^th all-time in program kills.  The advertising and public relations major broke her single-season digs mark of 316, totaling 337 digs entering postseason play.  Whaley has earned All-SSC First Team honors while taking home her third-consecutive SSC Player of the Year award.

Middle blocker Wagner is having the best season of her career, grounding 323 kills at a team-best .419 clip as a senior. The Cape Coral, Fla. native has 121 total blocks and earned SSC Co-Player of the Year honors with teammate Whaley.  The All-SSC First Team selection has garnered All-Region honors for the second time in her career.

The Sunshine State Conference sports seven of the 14 First Team selections as future conference program Palm Beach Atlantic garnered three honorees.  The Gulf South Conference picked up the remaining four First Team members to round out the regional squad.  Both Tampa and PBA led the team with three selections as Saint Leo, North Alabama and West Florida had three athletes earn a spot on the team apiece. 

Faith Rohn of PBA and Autumn Duyn of West Florida join Whaley and Lisenbee as three-time honorees as nine members of the squad are first time selections.

The Spartans open postseason play facing No. 7-seed Eckerd College in the regional quarterfinals on Thursday, Dec. 3 at 2:30 p.m.

AVCA All-South Region Team

Honorable Mention

Click here for the complete AVCA All-Region release

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