ARLINGTON, Texas – This morning, a trio of senior Aggies was recognized as some of the top performers in the Western Athletic Conference this season.
For the eighth-straight season and 16
th time in the last 17 seasons, at least one Aggie claimed First Team All-WAC honors. Meanwhile, NM State also landed a pair on the league's second team.
Following a vote of the league's 13 head coaches, the WAC announced Tuesday that
Molly Johnson earned First Team All-WAC honors while both
Katie Birtcil and
Lia Mosher appeared on the Second Team All-WAC list.
On the heels of a dominant finish to the season, graduate transfer
Molly Johnson was one of 11 student-athletes to secure First Team All-WAC honors. Johnson finished the season averaging 2.97 kills per set while hitting at a .283 clip across 89 sets. Both of those marks only increased once the Ann Arbor, Mich., native entered conference play – averaging 3.40 kills per set while hitting .297 in the Aggies' 14 league matches. Her numbers in conference play also stacked up against other WAC hitters as she finished the season ranked fifth in kills per set and points per set (4.02).
Johnson has been playing her best volleyball as of late as she has notched double-digit kills in nine of the Aggies' last 11 contests. The outside hitter also stepped up her game on the back row as she averaged 2.11 digs per set in WAC play.
Johnson's season also included one of the best individual performances in the nation this season when she tallied a program-record 37 kills to lead the Aggies to a five-set win over Seattle U on Nov. 5. As the regular season wrapped up, that mark finished as the fourth-most by any Division I women's volleyball player this season. Johnson was also awarded WAC Offensive Player of the Week distinction following her performance at Seattle U.
Katie Birtcil also claimed All-WAC laurels as her play during her senior campaign led to the second All-WAC selection of her career after she picked up first-team honors last season.
Upon finishing the season with 10-plus kills in 16 matches this season, Birtcil finished the season averaging a team-best 3.20 kills per set while also posting 1.86 digs per set. With these numbers, Birtcil finished the season averaging the seventh-most kills per set among WAC attackers.
The senior started 25 of the Aggies' 26 matches this season and managed to put up nearly 300 kills this season despite battling injury. In those 25 matches, Birtcil paced the Aggies in kills 14 times while picking up a season-high 21 kills in the Aggies' four-set victory over Southern Utah inside the Pan American Center on Sept. 29.
Finally,
Lia Mosher added to her trophy case this season as she notched the fourth All-WAC selection of her career as she was previously named First Team All-WAC twice and earned a WAC All-Freshmen Team certificate in 2017.
Mosher was the lone Aggie to start all 26 matches for Head Coach
Mike Jordan this season – finishing the year with a team-high .361 hitting percentage while also pacing the Aggies in blocks per set (0.98).
The efficiency of the Ruidoso, N.M., native was tops in the WAC this season with the next closest hitter managing a .353 clip. The defensive numbers of Mosher also finished among the top ten in the conference as her 92 total blocks across 94 sets gave her the 10
th-best blocks-per-set average among WAC blockers this season.
She was a dominant force at the net all season and turned in seven matches with five or more blocks this season.
This season also marked the third-straight year in which Mosher finished with the Aggies' best hitting percentage – totaling better than a .350 clip in each of the last three seasons.
Johsnon, Birtcil and Mosher will now lead the Aggies into the WAC Tournament where they will face third-seeded Grand Canyon on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 9 a.m. to kick off the chase for a sixth WAC Tournament title in program history.
For complete coverage of NM State volleyball as the Aggies continue their 2022 season, visit NMStateSports.com - the official home of Aggie athletics - and follow the Aggies on Facebook (NM State Volleyball), Twitter (@NMStateVB) and Instagram (@NMStateVB).
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