(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 13)—Two members of the McKendree University volleyball team earned first-team All-Conference honors in the American Midwest Conference for 2007.
Junior middle hitter Katelyn Kombrink (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) and senior setter Allison DeGroot (Highland, Ill./Highland) were honored for their play during the recently-completed volleyball season. The AMC All-Conference team is selected through a vote by the league's eight head volleyball coaches.
Kombrink led McKendree with 386 kills, 159 blocks and 74 service aces this fall. She ranked second in the AMC in hitting percentage at .346 and was fourth in total kills. Her 74 service aces were third in the conference, and the total is the second-highest in a season for the Bearcats. Kombrink also ranked among conference leaders in blocks.
DeGroot led the Bearcats with 857 assists in 2007, a total that ranks fifth on the single-season chart at McKendree. She was also second on the squad with 471 digs and ranked among team leaders with 212 kills, 32 service aces and 66 blocks. This is the second consecutive year that DeGroot has been an All-Conference selection for McKendree.
For her career, DeGroot handed out 2,540 assists, which is third in the history of the McKendree volleyball program.
In addition to Kombrink and DeGroot, two other Bearcat players earned AMC honorable mention All-Conference honors. Senior libero Courtney Aldridge (Dupo, Ill./Dupo) led McKendree with 688 digs while handling a team-high 889 pass attempts in 2007. Aldridge also notched 23 service aces in her first full season serving as the Bearcats' back-row specialist.
Sophomore outside hitter Dani Collins (Freeburg, Ill./Freeburg) was third on the team with 343 kills. She also chipped in with 70 blocks and had a hitting percentage of .260 in her first year with the Bearcat squad.
Twelve members of the McKendree volleyball program earned Academic All-Conference recognition. To be named to the AMC Academic All-Conference team, a student-athlete must maintain a minimum 3.0 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale and must have been in the program at least one full semester. Freshman and first-semester transfers are not eligible for the honor.
DeGroot and Kombrink added Academic All-Conference honors for the Bearcats, along with seniors Hannah Burleson (Dexter, Mo./Dexter), Jenilyn Wahlig (New Athens, Ill./New Athens) and Laura Walk (Neoga, Ill./Neoga), juniors Jessica Ellsworth (Greenville, Ill./Greenville), Dana Maedge (Highland, Ill./Highland) and Laura Winkeler, and sophomores Lindsay Newbold (Herrin, Ill./Herrin), Kristina Paisley (Columbia, Ill./Gibault), Lauren Sarver (Princeville, Ill./Dunlap) and Brittany Schrage (Aviston, Ill./Breese Central).
-McK-