Dec. 10, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second consecutive season, University of Notre Dame volleyball standout Jeni Houser has been named an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) all-region performer, the organization announced Tuesday afternoon.
Houser, who is part of the 14-member East Coast Region team, is one of just five student-athletes on the squad that have earned all-region honors two or more times in their careers. Last year, Houser and teammate Toni Alugbue were selected to the AVCA all-Northeast Region team before receiving honorable mention All-America honors.
With Houser’s selection, Notre Dame now has 44 first team all-region performers and 57 total honorees since 1987.
“Earning all-region is a great honor for her and the program,” said head coach Debbie Brown. “Like I talked about when she was named all-ACC, Jeni is the ultimate competitor. It seems that the bigger the challenge the more she competes. She is all about winning, which is one of the positive attributes that has helped her be the player that she has become.”
Houser, who was a second team all-BIG EAST selection as a freshman and a first team honoree as a sophomore, earned third team all-ACC accolades just a week ago. She switched to middle blocker during the spring and thrived at the position, leading the Irish in attack percentage (.303), points (394.0) and blocks (117) and was second in kills (311) and tied for fourth in service aces (14) while playing in all 120 sets for Notre Dame.
During the non-conference slate, Houser earned spots on the all-tournament teams at both of Notre Dame’s home tournaments – the Golden Dome and Shamrock Invitationals – and was named MVP of the latter after leading the Irish to a 3-2 victory over Auburn after trailing 2-0. In that match she had a team-high 18 kills (.531 A%) and a career-best 13 blocks to total an impressive 26.5 points.
In a Nov. 29 victory over Boston College, Houser became just the 21st player in school history to reach the 1,000-kill plateau. She’ll enter her senior season with 1,010 kills (.306 A%) and 276 blocks for 1,190.5 points.
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— Russell Dorn, Assistant Media Relations Director
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