O’Connor earns all-region volleyball honor

On a day Cornell's volleyball team hit the road for St. Louis, Mo., in its first trip to the national tournament, sophomore Kathleen O'Connor became the first Ram in program history to earn first team all-region accolades.

O'Connor was honored on the 2011 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III All-Region Teams, released Thursday. The 6-foot outside hitter earned a spot on the top unit in the Central Region.

O'Connor is the first Cornell player to reach all-region status since Laura Dudgeon garnered honorable mention honors in 2008 and 2009.

O'Connor was among three underclassmen selected to the region's 14-member first team, joining Washington-St. Louis sophomore outside hitter Meghan Byrne and St. Thomas freshman middle blocker Kelly Foley. O'Connor was the only first team selection from the Iowa Conference, which had a pair of honorable mention honorees in Wartburg's Britlyn Sieck and Ramey Sieck.

It's already been a banner-filled postseason for O'Connor, who last Friday was named First Team All-Iowa Conference and voted the league's Most Valuable Player. She led the Rams (28-5) to their first IIAC Tournament title on Saturday night, and three days later was recognized as the IIAC's Female Athlete of the Week.

O'Connor enters the weekend averaging a team-high 3.75 kills per set, while sporting a .238 attack percentage. She leads the Rams with 53 ace serves and also ranks among the team leaders in digs (319) and blocks (55). O'Connor has recorded 14 double-doubles (kills-digs) and reached the 10-kill mark in 22 of her last 25 matches.

O'Connor has totaled 442 kills, needing only six more to climb into second place on Cornell's single-season list. Her 3.75 kills (third) and 53 aces (fifth) also rank among the program's top all-time performances in a season.

O'Connor, averaging 4.8 kills this postseason, guides the Rams into a 12:30 p.m. match against 16th-ranked Elmhurst (30-5) Friday, Nov. 11 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships. Cornell has won 14 consecutive matches, the team's last setback more than a month ago against Elmhurst in the UW-Platteville Tournament.