Five Bulldogs, Fowler Earn SCAC Honors
SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran volleyball's Lexi Morris (Victoria/Victoria West) was named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Backrow Player of the Year for the second consecutive season and head coach Phyllis Fowler was named SCAC Coach of the Year for the first time in her career, as part of the announcement of the 2022 All-SCAC Volleyball awards.
The honors were selected by the league's head coaches, who are not permitted to vote for their own institution.
Including Morris, the Bulldogs had five players named to the All-SCAC teams. Senior middle blocker Madison Weisinger (Friendswood/Friendswood) joined Morris on the first team. Shavonne Respondek (San Antonio/Madison), Maddy Schultz (Richmond/Needville), and Peyton Sulak (Needville/Needville) landed on the second team.
Morris, a senior from Victoria, Texas adds to the Bulldogs' list of SCAC Backrow Player of the Year winners that includes Megan Lee (2013, '14), Jaci Chambers (2018), and Morris herself in the 2021 season. Morris is only the second Bulldog in program history to win back-to-back SCAC Backrow Player of the Year honors - joining Lee. The Bulldogs have won the award five of their 10 seasons in the SCAC. Morris leads the SCAC with her 5.63 digs per set and was in double figures in all 34 matches she played in including 18 matches with at least 20 digs. Morris currently ranks second in NCAA Division-III in digs after leading NCAA Division-III last season. After surpassing Lee and Chambers to become Texas Lutheran's all-time digs leader this season, Morris now ranks third all-time in SCAC history in digs and will finish her career ranked third in SCAC history in digs per set. Morris was SCAC Defensive Player of the Week two times this season.
Fowler earned her first SCAC Coach of the Year accolade after guiding the Bulldogs to a 24-9 (.727) regular season for the best regular-season winning percentage of her career. The 24 wins marked the most since 2007's 22-win season when Texas Lutheran was still a member of the American Southwest Conference (ASC). Fowler's 11 conference wins are the most since Texas Lutheran joined the SCAC in the fall of 2013. Amongst those conference wins was TLU's October 7 win over Colorado College - the first in program history.
Weisinger, a middle blocker from Friendswood, Texas, leads the Bulldogs with a .335 hitting percentage and 117 total blocks. Entering the SCAC Tournament, Weisinger ranked 11th nationally in total blocks and sixth in block assists. Weisinger has recorded 258 kills and is averaging 2.189 kills per set. She has notched double-figure points in 21 matches this season.
Respondek, a setter from San Antonio, earns her second career all-conference honor after leading the Bulldogs with 716 assists and ranking fourth in the SCAC with 5.42 assists per set. Respondek also ranked second in the SCAC in service aces (47) and eighth in digs (385). Respondek has recorded eight 25+ assist performances this season and tallied 69 kills at a .200 hitting percentage.
Schultz, an outside hitter from Richmond, Texas, ranks second amongst SCAC attackers and first on the TLU squad with 347 kills. Schultz has racked up 2.75 kills per set over the course of the 2022 season. Schultz ranks tenth in the SCAC with 70 blocks.
Sulak, a middle blocker from Needville, Texas, was second on the Bulldogs squad (amongst eligible players) in hitting percentage (.278) and third in blocks (49) and service aces (43). Sulak finishes her season fourth in the SCAC in service aces per set (0.44). Sulak recorded 148 kills and finished with double-digit points five times this season.
Texas Lutheran will face the winner of Colorado College and Southwestern in the 2022 SCAC Volleyball Championship game on Saturday at 12 PM CST. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
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