UU volleyball players earn MEC honors

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The Urbana University women’s volleyball team had four players awarded All-MEC honors, announced by league headquarters on Wednesday.

Senior outside hitter Katlynn Dunlap garnered first-team recognition for the third straight year while freshman middle hitter Kaitlin Trace of Graham High School landed on the second team. Trace also earned a spot on the All-Freshman team.

Additionally, junior outside hitter Cecily Clark and freshman setter Anna Davis appeared on the league’s honorable mention squad.

Dunlap, a four-time All-MEC selection and UU’s all-time Division II kills and digs leader, is the first Blue Knight awarded first-team distinction on three occasions. She was voted first team in 2016 and 2015 while earning MEC Freshman of the Year and second-team nod in 2014.

This season, Dunlap posted career highs in kills (443) and digs (411) while ranking fourth and 14th among league leaders, respectively. She also recorded a career-best 16 double-doubles, marking 52 career outings with 10 or more kills/digs. Dunlap’s 33 digs (career-high) at Fairmont State were the second most in school D-II history and she drilled a career-high 28 kills (third most in D-II era) against IUP at the beginning of the year.

Trace, who is one of four freshmen on MEC teams, finished the regular season ranked third among league leaders, and first among all freshmen, in hitting percentage at .302. A force at the net, Trace set UU’s single-season D-II record for total blocks (95) and tied the match record with nine blocks against Glenville State. Trace finished second on the team in kills (249) and produced a career-best 14 kills on four occasions, including the regular-season finale versus No. 21 Wheeling Jesuit.

Clark stepped up her play in her second season as a Blue Knight. The junior set career highs in every category including kills (245), attack percentage (.234), aces (11), digs (106) and blocks (24). She produced 10 matches with at least 10 kills and registered her career-high of 18 kills in a pair of road matches at nationally ranked Wheeling Jesuit and UVa-Wise.

Davis joined Trace as one of the top freshman performers in the conference this season. She led UU with 721 assists (6.22/set) and finished the regular season ranked eighth among league leaders. Davis also played well on defense, finishing fourth on the team with 167 digs (1.44/set).

MEC tourney pairings

The field and seedings have been set for the 2017 Mountain East Conference Volleyball Tournament.

Regular season champion Wheeling Jesuit will serve as the host for the eight-team event that starts on today with the quarterfinals. The semifinals will be played on Friday with the championship being played on Saturday.

The University of Charleston is the second seed for the second straight year, winning a tiebreaker over Shepherd which is seeded third. Four-time MEC Tournament finalist Fairmont State is seeded fourth, followed by Urbana University, West Liberty, Concord and West Virginia Wesleyan.

UU plays Fairmont State today at 5 p.m.

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