Third-ranked Nebraska Kearney has placed seven players on the 2024 All-MIAA volleyball team and won five special awards.
The league’s 14 head coaches choose award winners, and they cannot vote for their own players.
First, graduate Alli Wiese (Mattawan, Mich.) is the Co-Defensive Player of the Year and the Libero of the Year. Next, graduate Peyton Neff (North Platte) is the unanimous choice for Setter of the Year with sophomore middle Mia Berg(Eureka, Mo.) the Hitter of the Year. Finally, Rick Squiers is named MIAA Coach of the Year for the fourth time.
Wiese and Neff were two of the six unanimous first-team selections with Berg and senior outside Asha Regier (Newton, Kan.) also on the top squad. Junior outside Emilee Lane (Hays, Kan.) made the second team with graduate right side Lauren Taubenheim (Lincoln Pius) and junior middle Abby Rose(Lindsborg, Kan.) named honorable mention.
Taubenheim joins libero Ellie McDonnell and middles Anna Squiers and Tara Ziegelbein as the only Lopers to be a 4-time All-MIAA pick. Neff could join that group next fall with Regier and Berg now two-time honorees.
A two-time All-American at Hilldale (Mich.) College, Wiese has shined brightly in her lone year in Kearney. A four-time MIAA Defensive Player of the Week winner, she is averaging 5.67 digs per set while also having 78 assists and 31 service aces. One of three Lopers that has appeared in all 97 sets, Wiese has a team-best high 644 serve receive attempts (.970 pct.) and is closing in on 3,000 career digs.
Next, Neff runs an offense that is averaging 14.8 kills per set and hitting .260. UNK is among the Division II leaders in several offensive categories with five players having registered at least 150 kills. Neff enters the MIAA Tournament averaging 12.5 assists, 2.7 digs, 0.6 blocks, and 0.6 kills per set with 15 service aces. She also is closing in on 4,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs.
In the middle, Berg leads the Lopers in points (346.0) and points per set (3.89) while ranking second in kills (282), kills per set (3.17) and attack percentage (.326). She has had 16 matches with a double digit kill total and leads UNK in blocks (1.12 per set) as well.
Squiers is now 786-109 (.878 win pct.) in his Loper tenure which began in 1999. In addition to his four MIAA COY awards, he was an 8-time Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) COY. He previously won the MIAA award in 2019, 2016 and 2012.
Among the other all-league selections, Regier is UNK’s leading attacker with 292 kills and a 3.28 set average. Hitting .254, she’s had 17 matches with a double digit kill total including the last seven and provides 0.7 digs and 0.4 blocks pet set as well. Next, Rose leads the Lopers in attack percentage (.332) while supplying 2.1 kills and 0.6 blocks per set with Lane third on the team in kills per set (2.8) as she’s had a double digit kill total 12 times. Finally, Taubenheim is one of UNK’s top passers, posting a .984 serve receive percentage. She also is at 2.7 digs, 1.3 kills and 0.5 blocks per set with 18 service aces and 19 assists.
The Lopers (28-1) face Fort Hays State Thursday at 5 p.m. in the first round of the MIAA Tourney in St. Joseph.
