AVCA All-Region

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Nine Missouri Valley Conference volleyball student-athletes have been named to the AVCA All-Region Team as announced by the organization this morning. Evansville's Giulia Cardona, Drake's Jada Wills and Taylor Oberpriller and UNI's Tayler Alden were named to the first team, while Drake's Haley Bush, UIC's Martina Delucchi and Becca Oldendorf and UNI's Layanna Green and Emily Holterhaus were honorable mention selections. 

Giulia Cardona, Evansville (First Team North Region)
In 2023, Cardona was one of the top performers in the MVC and the entire nation.  She led the nation in kills (5.34/set), points (6.14/set) and attempts (15.00/set) while ranking 11th in the nation and tops in the MVC with 0.54 service aces per set.  Cardona wrapped up the 2023 campaign with a total of 593 kills, breaking her own UE program mark, which she set in 2022. Cardona was named the AVCA GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week on October 17 becoming just the second player in league history to earn the accolade.  Cardona was a 4-tie MVC Player of the Week and recorded two of the league's four 20-kill, 20-dig performances in 2023.

Martina Delucchi, UIC (Honorable Mention North Region)
Fresh off earning All-Missouri Valley Conference First Team and MVC All-Tournament Team honors, Delucchi ranked third in the conference with 3.92 kills per set. She also collected double-digit kills in 21 matches, including 20-plus kills on four separate occasions. 

Becca Oldendorf, UIC (Honorable Mention North Region)
Oldendorf finished a historic senior year that saw her break the program's single-season (.418) and tied the career (.365) hitting percentage records. She collected 252 kills this season, registering double-digit kills in 12 matches. She also led the Flames in aces (38) and was second on the team with 92 total blocks.  

Jada Wills, Drake (First Team Midwest Region)
Wills currently ranks third all-time in career digs at Drake and completed the second-best single season with 728 digs in 2022. She began this season with back-to-back MVC Defensive Player of the Week awards and earned All-Tournament honors at the Cougar Challenge hosted by Washington State. This season, Wills leads Drake and The Valley with 723 total digs and an average of 5.78 per set.

Haley Bush, Drake (Honorable Mention Midwest Region)
Bush is Drake volleyball's all-time leader in kills with 1,714. Bush picked up an MVC Player of the Week award after setting the Bulldogs' all-time kills record this season. She has posted 425 kills, 276 digs, 65 blocks, and a team-high 29 service aces this season.

Taylor Oberpriller, Drake (First Team Midwest Region)
Oberpriller has been the primary threat on the Drake offense this season. She tore through the early stage of the schedule with an MVC Player of the Week honor and All-Tournament nods at the Flyer Invitational, Cardinal & Gold Challenge, and South Dakota Classic, where she also took home MVP honors. Oberpriller leads Drake with 478 total kills while adding 358 digs and 94 blocks, both the second-most on the team, with 23 assists and 17 aces.

Tayler Alden, UNI (First Team Midwest Region)
Alden, a native of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, picks up her second AVCA All-Region nod after being named the Missouri Valley Conference's (MVC) Setter of the Year for a second consecutive season. She led the Panthers with 1,205 assists with a career-best 10.57 assists per set while also earning First Team All-MVC honors for a second straight year. The most valuable player of this year's MVC Tournament, Alden surpassed 4,000 career assists this season, moving into seventh on UNI's all-time list.

Emily Holterhaus, UNI (Honorable Mention Midwest Region)
Holterhaus, a Pella, Iowa native, concludes her collegiate career with her first All-Region honor after leading Northern Iowa's offense with a team-high 410 terminations (3.63 per set). The 2023 MVC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and First Team All-MVC selection, Holterhaus etched her name into program history this season by setting the program's all-time attack attempts record (4,771), and finishing fourth in school history in career kills (1,631), as well as second in both career sets played (561) and career matches played (156) having never missed a match in her five seasons as a Panther.

Layanna Green, UNI (Honorable Mention Midwest Region)
Green, a native of Waukee, Iowa enjoyed a breakout season in 2023 after playing just one set all of last year, racking up 260 kills (2.3 per set), 111 digs (0.98 per set), 83 total blocks (0.73 per set) and 19 service aces. A First Team All-MVC honoree, Green recorded a career-best 16 terminations in UNI's regular season road win at Drake, and blocked a career-high eight attacks later in the season against the Bulldogs in the MVC Tournament championship match. Green also dished out a career-best three service aces against Ball State early in the season at the Bluejay Invitational.