Wayne State was all over the postseason honors list by the Northern Sun Conference in its announcement of the top volleyball talent this season.
Scott Kneifl was named NSIC Coach of the Year, sophomore Taya Beller was named Offensive Player of the Year and was one of five Wildcats named to the NSIC All-Conference Volleyball list, voted on by conference coaches.
This is Kneifl’s third time being named the NSIC Coach of the Year, going with honors received in 2005 (as co-Coach of the Year) and 2009. He led the team to the conference regular-season conference title this year, going 19-1 on the season. The team had a school-record 24-game winning streak to start the season and were ranked No. 1 in the nation and are currently ranked first in the Central Region standings.
Five of Kneifl’s players made the All-Conference team, including Beller, a 6-foot-2 sophomore middle hitter who was named the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year.
Beller earned first-team All-NSIC honors for the second straight year, averaging almost four kills and one block per set. Her .410 hitting percentage ranks second in the league and eighth in NCAA Div. II. She is also fourth in kills and points per set (4.49) and eighth in blocks.
Beller has been named NSIC Player of the Week twice and was also named a GameChanger/AVCA Div. II National Player of the Week. She has had 10 or more kills in 26 of 30 matches this season.
Also named to the NSIC All-Conference teams were first-team selections Kelsie Cada, Rachel Walker and Maggie Brahmer, along with second-team selection Jessie Brandl.
Brahmer, a 6-foot sophomore middle hitter, earned her second NSIC First Team selection in as many years, averaging 3.29 kills and 1.18 blocks while hitting at a .484 clip, good for second in the country. She is also second in blocks per set, eight in points per set and 11th in kills nationally. She is a three-time Player of the Week selection this season and was named the MVP of the Colorado Premier Challenge earlier this season.
Cada, a 6-foot junior outside hitter, was a second-team All-NSIC selection last year. She averages 3.64 kills and 3.03 digs per set and has had 11 double-doubles this season. She is fifth in the conference in kills and points per set and leads WSC with 32 service aces. She was also a Player of the Week honoree and has twice recorded a 21 kills in a match this season.
Walker, a 5-foot-9 junior setter, was a NSIC Second Team honoree last year and averages more than 10 assists and 2.46 digs per set this season, ranking fifth in the NSIC in assists per set. She has had nine double-doubles this season and was NSIC Setter of the Week once this season. She had a season-high 48 assists against West Texas A&M at the Colorado Challenge.
Brandl, a 5-foot-8 senior libero, ranks seventh in the NSIC with 4.01 digs per set and is fifth on the team with 19 service aces. She has had 10 or more digs in 26 of 30 matches, highlighted by back-to-back career-high 24-dig efforts at Upper Iowa and Winona State. She also had a career-high four ace serves against Bemidji State.
