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VB: ALL-REGION - Bruins’ Pledger Receives AVCA All-West Region Honorable Mention
NEWBERG, Ore. - Capping off an outstanding first season with the George Fox University Bruins, middle blocker Eliza Pledger has received honorable mention for the NCAA Division III All-West Region women's volleyball team as selected by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Pledger, a sophomore from Wilsonville, Ore., who transferred to George Fox after one season at Boise State, led the conference and ranked seventh nationally (thru Nov. 1) in blocks per set (1.30). She totaled 117 blocks (35 solo, 82 assists) on the season, including a high of 13 (1 solo, 12 assists) in one match vs. Chapman in the Cal-Lu-fornia Tournament. She averaged 1.92 kills per set, with a high of 13 kills in a match at Puget Sound, and had a hitting percentage of .261 on 173 kills and 61 errors in 429 attempts, which ranked seventh in the conference. She was named both the Bruin Athletic Association Women's Athlete of the Week and the Northwest Conference Volleyball Student-Athlete of the Week twice during the season.
Pledger was elected to the All-Northwest Conference Second Team, as was George Fox senior outside hitter Lyndsay Hovee of Belfair, Wash. Bruins' middle blocker Kaitlyn Maddams, a freshman from Gresham, Ore., received All-NWC honorable mention.
George Fox went 17-7 overall this season, their best mark since a 20-6 campaign in 2002, and were 10-6 in the league, tying for third after being picked to finish seventh in the pre-season NWC coaches' poll. It was the 21st winning record for head coach Steve Grant in 28 years at George Fox, and gave him a career record of 556-365, ranking him among the top 15 for victories among active D-III coaches.
In the Cal-Lu-fornia Tournament, the Bruins were 4-0, including wins over Chapman and Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion Redlands, both NCAA Division III National Tournament teams. The Bruins also defeated 22nd-ranked and NCAA Tournament participant Puget Sound on the road, and won nine in a row in mid-season, their longest streak since winning 20 straight in 1998.
