Five earn MIAA honors for volleyball

By FHSU SPORTS INFORMATION

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Five student-athletes from the Fort Hays State volleyball team earned recognition on the 2022 All-MIAA awards list, announced Wednesday (Nov. 9) by the league office. Emily Ellis and Riley Tinder both received second team honors, while Morgan Christiansen, Jaden Daffer and Mykah Eshbaugh were all listed as honorable mention. It’s the most all-conference selections for the Tigers since 2016.

Ellis ranked third in the league in total blocks and fifth in blocks per set, racking up a team-high 111 blocks and averaging 1.03 blocks per set. She recorded multiple blocks in a match 21 times, including 12 contests with five or more swats. The middle hitter racked up a single-match career-high of 10 blocks twice on the year, tied for fifth-most at FHSU during the rally-scoring era. The Colorado Springs, Colo. native also led the team with an attack percentage of .224 (184-74-492). She added 20 service aces on the year, fifth-most on the squad. The middle hitter wrapped up her career with 240 blocks, two shy of cracking the top 10 at FHSU during the DII era. Ellis averaged 0.91 blocks per set across three official seasons in her career, seventh-best at FHSU during the DII era and fifth-best during the rally-scoring era.

Tinder picked up All-MIAA status for the second year in a row after earning honorable mention status in 2021. The outside hitter was one of two players conference-wide to rank in the top 16 in the league in both kills (15th, 2.67 k/s) and digs (16th, 3.51 d/s). She led the Tigers in total kills, ranking 12th in the league with 286 on the year. The Basehor, Kan. native totaled 12 double-doubles on the year, including 17 matches with 10 or more kills and 18 contests with at least 10 digs. Tinder also led the team with 38 service aces, third-most in the MIAA and the most by a Tiger since 2009. She recorded single-match highs of 16 kills, 27 digs, four service aces and six service aces, the latter of which was third-most in a contest league-wide.

Christiansen earned honorable mention accolades for the second year in a row. The middle hitter led the team with 17 solo blocks and ranked sixth in the conference with 94 total blocks. She ranked second on the team in both blocks per set (0.88 b/s) and attack percentage at .190 (191-95-505). The Lincoln, Neb. native brought her career total in blocks to 271, eighth-most at FHSU during the DII era and fourth during the rally-scoring era. She recorded multiple blocks in 21 of 28 matches on the year.

Daffer ranked sixth in the MIAA with an average of 4.66 digs per set, the best season average by a Tiger in five years. She recorded double figures in digs in 24 of her 25 matches played, including 10 contests with at least 20 digs and one with over 30 digs. A native of Percival, Iowa, Daffer also ranked 12th in the league with 30 service aces on the year, second-most at FHSU.

Eshbaugh led the Tigers with an average of 2.67 kills per set, 14th-best in the MIAA. She cranked things up a notch in conference play, upping her average to 2.74 kills per set against league opponents. The Concordia, Kan. native added 42 blocks and 99 digs on the year, averaging just under three points per set. The right-side hitter racked up 21 kills in a road win at Pittsburg State, the most by a Tiger in over three years.

2022 All-MIAA Awards
Player of the Year: Alyssa Rezac, S – Northwest Missouri*
Freshman of the Year: Sydney Huck, OH – Central Oklahoma
Coach of the Year: Amy Woerth – Northwest Missouri
*indicates unanimous selection

First-Team
Meg Auten, OH – Pittsburg State
Emersen Cyza, OH – Nebraska Kearney*
Jaedynn Evans, L/DS – Central Oklahoma*
Jaden Ferguson, RS – Northwest Missouri
Sydney Huck, OH – Central Oklahoma
Jenna Karp, MB – Central Oklahoma
Avery Kemp, MB – Northwest Missouri
Payton Kirchhoefer, OH – Northwest Missouri*
Halle Meister, MB – Washburn
Danielle Moje, MB – Missouri Western
Payton Neff, S – Nebraska Kearney
Kersti Nix, OH – Central Missouri* H
Alyssa Rezac, S – Northwest Missouri*
Jensen Rowse, L/DS – Nebraska Kearney
Grace Southern, MB – Central Missouri
Bailee Sterling, MB – Nebraska Kearney
Jalyn Stevenson, OH – Washburn
[Reflects ties in voting]
*indicates unanimous selection

Second-Team
Marissa Bates, L/DS – Pittsburg State
Fernanda Canedo, OH – Missouri Southern
Abbie Casper, L/DS – Missouri Southern
Riley Daugherty, OH – Newman
Emily Ellis, MB – Fort Hays State
Lindsay Houran, S – Central Oklahoma
Kealy Kiviniemi, RS – Washburn
Mallorie Koehn, OH – Central Oklahoma
Tiffany Little, OH – Central Missouri
Amelia Neels, MB – Missouri Southern
Brianna Richard, S – Pittsburg State
Jenna Schulte, MB – Central Missouri
Janae Thurston, RS – Pittsburg State
Riley Tinder, OH/RS – Fort Hays State

Honorable Mentions
Central Missouri: Sydney Lierz – OH; Chandler Vaughan – S; Grace Winkelmann – L/DS
Emporia State: Leah Mach – OH/RS
Fort Hays State: Morgan Christiansen – MB; Jaden Daffer – L/DS; Mykah Eshbaugh – OH/RS
Missouri Southern: Sophie Mader – S
Nebraska Kearney: Lauren Taubenheim – OH; Fallon Stutheit – MB
Newman: Ozioma Ajekwu – MB; McKinzie Weaver – S; Natalie Morales – L/DS
Northwest Missouri: Abby Brunssen – MB; Kyah Luhring – L/DS; Kristen Ford – L/DS
Washburn: Corinna McMullen – S