AMHERST, N.Y. -- The postseason awards keep on coming for Daemen University women's volleyball senior libero
Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) and freshman outside hitter
Charlotte Koerber (Munich, Germany)! The pair were named to the 42nd annual American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)
NCAA Division II women's volleyball All-America Team on Wednesday afternoon, with both players earning Honorable Mention honors. The AVCA All-America selections were voted on by the AVCA Division II All-America Committee. Brundage and Koerber are the first Wildcats to earn AVCA All-America honors since Caitlyn Meyer in 2021, and are the third and fourth players in Daemen's NCAA Division II era (2015-present) to garner All-American recognition.
A 5-foot-5 senior libero, Brundage put together her best season in a Daemen uniform, starting in 31 of Daemen's 32 matches on the year and posting a league-high 557 digs to average 5.21 digs per set (both single-season career-highs). She was named the 2023 East Coast Conference Libero of the Year, marking the second time in her four-year career that she took home the prestigious award, as well as First Team All-ECC honors for the first time in her career.
Named the ECC Defensive Player of the Week six times this season, Brundage picked up AVCA All-Region honors for the first time in her career. She added 100 assists (0.93 assists/set), 39 service aces and finished the 2023 season with 448 receptions with just 19 errors for a 95.8 reception percentage. Brundage tallied 20+ digs in 13 matches on the year, including a season-high 34 digs in the East Region championship match against Bentley. Brundage earned her 1,000th career dig this season, and after a four-year career as Daemen's libero, ranks eighth all-time in the Daemen record books with 1,407 total digs.
A 6-foot heavy hitting freshman outside hitter, Koerber burst onto the scene in her freshman season and started in 29 of Daemen's 32 matches. She led the Wildcats with 354 kills (3.54 kills per set) on 912 attacks for a .261 hitting percentage, and tallied a team-high 47 aces (0.47 aces/set) while ranking second on the team with 302 digs (3.02 digs/set). A six-time ECC Rookie of the Week and a two-time ECC Player of the Week, Koerber was named the 2023 ECC Rookie of the Year, marking the first Daemen player to earn the award since Ashley Drzymala in 2016.
Koerber posted 14 double-doubles (kills-digs) this season, and tallied a season-high 21 digs against New Haven on Sept. 16 and totaled a season-high 17 digs in matches against Gannon (Oct. 18) and Adelphi (Dec. 1) in the regional semifinal match. She was named Daemen's September Female Athlete of the Month after a breakout first month of play for the Wildcats, and earned both AVCA All-Region and D2CCA All-Region honors this season. Koerber finished the 2023 season ranked second in the league in kills, third in points, fourth in kills per set, fifth in hitting percentage and aces and ninth in digs.
Brundage and Koerber helped lead the Wildcats to a 26-6 overall record, marking the most wins in a single season since 2012. Daemen cruised through conference play, tallying their third consecutive undefeated record after going 12-0 on the year in the ECC and earning their third straight ECC regular season title. The Wildcats host the ECC Championship Tournament, and after wins over Queens and Molloy, took home their fifth all-time ECC Tournament title, third in a row. As the five-seed in the NCAA Division II East Region Tournament, the Wildcats beat fourth-seed American International 3-1 in the regional quarterfinals, and upset top-seeded Adelphi 3-1 in the semifinals to advance to the program's third East Region championship match where they fell to third-seeded Bentley, 3-1. Brundage and Koerber were both named to the East Region All-Tournament Team, along with senior
Giselle Giraud (Orlando, Fla.).
Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.
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