Katie Weininger and Liz Schnelle named AVCA Division III First Team All-America

Liz Schnelle/Katie Weininger

By Steven Wright

ADA — Senior setter Katie Weininger and junior Liz Schnelle have both been selected AVCA Division III First Team All-America as chosen by the AVCA Division III All-America Committee.

This is the first time that either volleyball player has been named First Team All-America. Schnelle was Third Team All-America last season and Weininger was Honorable Mention All-America.

Weininger and Schnelle are now the second the third Ohio Northern volleyball player to earn the award.

Sara Stewart was the first player to achieve the award, earning the honor two years in a row in 1989 and 1990.

Weininger and Schnelle have both had phenomenal individual seasons and have led the Polar Bears to great team success, winning 26 consecutive matches and earning a trip to the NCAA Championships.

Weininger has been an outstanding all-around performer, dishing out 1,337 assists with 236 digs and 176 kills.

She currently ranks third on ONU’s all-time assists list with 4,596 after only setting three seasons.

Her season .353 hitting percentage ranks her fourth in the Ohio Athletic Conference.

At 11.26 assists per set, she ranks fourth in the country and has led the Polar Bears to 13.08 assists per set as a team, which is the nation’s top number.

Weininger was the only setter selected First Team All-America. 

Schnelle has continued to get better after her record-breaking season a year ago.

So far, Schnelle has 552 kills, just 21 away from tying her single-season school record of 573 that she recorded in 2007.

She is first in the OAC in kills/set (4.52) and hitting percentage (.404). Those numbers rank her second in the nation in hitting perecentage and seventh in kills/set.

Schnelle ranks in the Top 10 in five different career categories, including fourth in career kills at 1,623. She is just 23 away from moving into third place.

Her 103 total blocks on the year are a career best.

The two All-Americans have also shared a number of other awards, including First Team All-Great Lakes Region and OAC Co-Player of the Year.

The duo will be recognized tonight at NCAA Division III Volleyball Banquet where the AVCA Player of the Year will be announced.

The No. 8-ranked Ohio Northern volleyball team will continue its season on Thursday in the Elite 8 against Williams (Mass.) at 9:30 pm EST at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Ill.