Nieszala, Huppert named Honorable Mention All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association
By Tim Glon
ADA — Ohio Northern senior libero Megan Nieszala (Lambertville, Mich./St. Marys Catholic Central) and sophomore middle hitter Chelsea Huppert (Bremen, Ind.) were named Honorable Mention All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association for 2017.
Nieszala is a repeat selection on the All-America squad, as she earned the honor as a junior in 2016.
Nieszala and Huppert were also named First Team All-Great Lakes Region and First Team All-Ohio Athletic Conference earlier this season.
The Polar Bears (29-6 overall) are ranked No. 20 nationally by the AVCA and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA III Tournament with victories over DePauw (Ind.) and No. 25 Otterbein before falling to No. 3 Wittenberg in the Regional Finals.
Nieszala led the team and the OAC with 591 digs this season, which ranks her fifth on ONU's single-season list for a senior.
She ends her career ranked fourth all-time at ONU with 1,878 career digs.
Nieszala is now a three-time All-OAC pick, a two-time All-Region pick, a two-time Honorable Mention All-American and was the OAC Libero of the Year in 2016.
Huppert led the OAC with an ONU sophomore record 131 blocks, was second in the OAC with 407 kills and was third in the OAC with a .331 hitting percentage this season.
She currently ranks 10th all-time at ONU with 69 block solos and her .336 career hitting percentage is third-best in ONU history.
All First Team All-Region honorees are awarded Honorable Mention All-America honors on the AVCA All-America teams unless they are named to the First, Second or Third Team.