TERRE HAUTE, IND. --
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology placed four players on the
all-Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference volleyball squads and
earned five major awards from the league office.
Junior Anna Lewer (Indianapolis/Lutheran) and senior Karah Hickman (Hobart) earned first-team all-league honors, with seniors Leah Pelzel (Loveland, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) and Morgan Williams (Fenton, Mich./Powers Catholic) capturing second-team all-conference awards in balloting by head coaches.
Head coach
Brenda Goble captured HCAC Coach of the Year
honors after helping the Fightin' Engineers earn their first trip
to the NCAA Tournament and the first regular season conference
championship in program history.
Lewer led Rose-Hulman with 308 kills and 389 digs this season. She ranks seventh in school history with 873 kills and has added 1,089 digs and 147 total blocks in three years as a starter.
Hickman paced the HCAC in hitting percentage this season at .343 with 233 kills. She stands eighth in Rose-Hulman history with 857 kills and fourth with 307 blocks. Hickman also received a spot on the HCAC All-Sportsmanship Team.
Pelzel paced the
Engineers with 733 assists and 72 service aces this season.
She also pitched in with 155 kills and 374 digs as a full-rotation
player and ranks third in school history in assists (2,483) and
service aces (202).
Williams led the team with 114 total blocks and was second on the team with a .308 hitting percentage on 286 kills. She ranks 10th in school history with 806 kills and second with 359 total blocks.
Goble earned the second conference Coach of the Year honor in her Rose-Hulman career. The only head coach in Fightin' Engineer volleyball history, Goble crossed the 200-mark this season and was previously the 2001 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year.
Rose-Hulman finished
the regular season with a 24-8 record and will begin NCAA Division
III Tournament action against No. 5 ranked Wittenberg University at
Calvin College in Michigan on Thursday at 3 p.m.