LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced their Division III Regional Awards on Tuesday.
Delainey Winkel was named Player of the Year and head coach
Karrah Davis received Coach of the Year honors in Region IX. Winkel,
Taylor Bechen, and
Ashley Glennon were named Region IX First Team by the AVCA.
Winkel continues to add accolades to her historic junior season. In addition to being named AVCA Region IX Player of the Year, she received A-R-C MVP honors on Tuesday. Winkel received A-R-C volleyball offensive player of the week twice and was named A-R-C female athlete of the week once during the season. She was also named to three all-tournament teams this season and totaled 381 kills at a .227 hitting percentage. In her junior campaign, Winkel tallied 323 digs, 21 total blocks, and 34 service aces. With the honor, Winkel becomes the first Spartan ever to win AVCA Regional Player of the Year.
Bechen and Glennon became the 14th and 15th players in program history to receive Regional First Team honors. Bechen received five A-R-C volleyball defensive player of the week awards during the 2025 season and was named A-R-C Defensive Player of the Year. Bechen tallied 615 digs and 5.69 digs per set, both the highest totals in the conference by a large margin. Bechen's defensive prowess saved the Spartans on numerous occasions throughout the season.
Glennon merited Region IX first team honors after a season where she totaled 256 kills, 24 service aces, 335 digs, and 31 blocks. Glennon was a mainstay on the court for the Spartans, providing key offense at the net and security on the back line.
Head coach
Karrah Davis also received the regional IX coach of the year award. Davis received AVCA Honorable Mention All-American awards in 2017 as a player, but this marks her first award as a coach. Davis and her staff merited this award by piloting the Spartans to a 25-4 record in the regular season and a second straight national tournament appearance. Under Davis' leadership, the Spartans achieved their first AVCA ranking since 2000 and set a program record for most weeks ranked in a season (11 weeks).
The Spartans received the No. 2 seed in the Oshkosh Regional and will play No. 7 seed Cornell College in the first round on Thursday at 2:00 p.m.
