Fayette, Mo. - The Central Methodist Volleyball program garnered four AVCA-NAIA All-Midwest Region selections by the American Volleyball Coaches' Association Thursday.
Fifth year seniors Callie Henson and Krystal Brauner were both named to the first team, while the duo of Delaney Miller and Annabelle Maassen earned Honorable Mention nods.
Henson, a native of Jefferson City, Missouri landed on the first team for the third consecutive year. In her final season with the Eagles, Henson was named both the Heart of America Conference Attacker and Player of the Year. She led the team in total kills (313) and kills/set (3.07).
In addition, Henon's kills/set average was good for fourth best in the conference while her hitting percentage (.315) was third best in the Heart. Altogether, Henson appeared in 32 matches and 102 total sets, racking up double-digit kills on 20 different occasions.
She was named the Heart Attacker of the Week back on Oct. 31 and now holds the program record for career kills (1,514), which she set against Columbia College. Henson is also fifth all-time in program history in career total blocks with 305.
Brauner joins Henson on the first team after earning an Honorable Mention nod in 2022. She was named the Conference Defender of the Year after racking up a team leading 573 total digs and a conference best 5.12 digs/set through 33 matches.
The Jefferson City, Mo. native also recorded 20 service aces and tallied a season's best 41 digs against Loyola on Sept. 2. She earned Heart Defender of the Week honors both on Sept. 4 and Sept. 25. Brauner registered double-digit digs in 30 of the 33 matches she played in.
She finishes her time as Central's all-time career-digs leader with 2,764 and is second all-time in career service aces (146).
Miller earned an Honorable Mention nod for the first-time in her career as well as a Heart First Team All-Conference selection. The native of Buffalo, Missouri appeared in all 33 matches, serving as Central's most effective hitter with a .383 attack percentage, which was also best in the Heart of America and second best in a single-season in program history.
She tallied double-digit kills on 10 different occasions, and was named the Heart Attacker of the Week on Aug. 28.
In addition, Miller finishes her career as No. 4 all-time in total blocks (309), and No. 7 in career hitting percentage (.309).
Maassen was tabbed an Honorable Mention All-Region selection for the first time in her career. She was also named a Heart First Team All-Conference selection for the first time, after earning second team honors in each of her first three seasons.
Maassen played in every match for Central in 2023, leading the team in sets played (114), service aces (36), and total blocks (110). The six rotation middle finished second in the Heart in total blocks and fifth in blocks/set (0.96).
Maassen is now in the Top 10 in numerous single-season and career categories, highlighted by single-season block assists (4th, 97), career-service aces (3rd, 138), and career-digs (6th, 1149).
CMU finished the year with a 22-11 overall record, an appearance in the Heart Tournament Championship, and their sixth-straight trip to the NAIA National Tournament.
To view the full release of the 2023 AVCA-NAIA Volleyball All-Region selections, please click here.
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