Taylor Reiss named ‘Player of the Year’
The American Volleyball Coaches' Association (AVCA) announced on Wednesday that Southwest Minnesota State junior outside hitter, Taylor Reiss, was named the TeamSnap/ AVCA Division II Player of the Year, making her the first recipient of the award in SMSU history.
The announcement, which comes just one day after Reiss was named to the first team AVCA All-American team for a second straight year, was made at the NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship Banquet at the Hilton Hotel in Pensacola, Florida.
She will also be honored at the AVCA All-America/Player of the Year Banquet on Friday, December 15 in conjunction with the 2017 AVCA Convention in Kansas City, Missouri. Reiss, a Taunton native and a 2015 graduate of Minneota High School, was named the CCA Central Region Player of the Year while also earning first team CCA All-American honors for 2017.
She received the AVCA/ Sports Imports Division II National Player of the Week honors on two occasions during the 2017 season after being named the Northern Sun's Preseason Player of the Year back in August.
Reiss garnered first-team All-NSIC honors after leading the Mustangs this season with 605 kills while hitting .305.
She also had 363 digs, 73 total blocks and 24 service aces and was named the NSIC Player of the Year for a second straight year after leading the conference in both kills per set (4.9) and points per set (5.4) during conference play.
Reiss tied an NSIC tournament record last month with 31 kills in the Mustangs' quarterfinal win over Upper Iowa and followed up by breaking the SMSU all-time single match record with 41 kills against Augustana in the NSIC semifinal round.
In SMSU volleyball history, she ranks second in kills per set (4.66), third in points per set (5.31), eighth in attack percentage (.310) and seventh in total kills (1,482).
Reiss, who was named the AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year back in 2015, helped the Mustangs advance to the NCAA DII Central Region semifinal round and was named to the Central Region's all-tournament team last weekend.
WRESTLING: Minneota’s Brock Buysse wrestled at the 133 weight for Southwest State of Marshall at the Augustana Duals, where he won three matches and lost one.
He beat Cole Mills of Northwestern, IA, 4-1 and Keegan Hessler of Morningside, 7-3 before losing to Wesley Dawkins of Nebraska-Kearney, 9-2. Against Drury, Buysse pinned Max Newbury in 1:30.
The Mustangs were 3-1 at the duals, losing only to Nebraska-Kearney. Nick Esping of Minneota got a 10-4 win over Grant Taylor of Drury.
It was his only match of the day. Minneota’s Cole Hennen is injured and didn’t wrestle.