Pippen gets national recognition

Left to right: Junior setter/hitter Meg Viggars, senior middle hitter Taylor Pippen and junior setter Hannah Kaminsky speak at a December press conference after SIU’s volleyball team had been selected to play in the NCAA Tournament. (DailyEgyptian.com file photo)

By Evan Jones, @EvanJones_DE
December 16, 2015

Senior middle hitter Taylor Pippen was named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association Honorable Mention All-American team Wednesday.

The AVCA compiles the top players into three 14-player teams and a list of 66 honorable mentions.

Pippen is a two-time All-MVC first team player and preseason All-MVC player. She was named State Farm MVC Good Neighbor, CoSIDA Academic All-District and two-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week. She was also a finalist for the CLASS award this season.

She finished the year first on the team with a .386 attack percentage — third in the Valley and 35th in the nation. She is first all-time at SIU with a .345 attack percentage and 426 block assists.

Four other Missouri Valley Conference players were named to the honorable mention list: Wichita State’s sophomore middle blocker Abbie Lehman and senior right side hitter Katie Reilly; and Missouri State’s senior setter Kinsey Batten and sophomore outside hitter Lily Johnson.

Evan Jones can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @EvanJones_DE