The Nebraska volleyball team placed five student-athletes on the AVCA North All-Region Team on Tuesday. It marks the most all-region selections for the Huskers since earning six in 2016.
Madi Kubik, Lexi Rodriguez, Kaitlyn Hord, Whitney Lauenstein and Bekka Allick were all selected to the AVCA North All-Region Team. Hord earned her fifth career all-region honor, while Kubik picked up her fourth and Rodriguez her second. Lauenstein and Allick were honored for the first time.
Kubik, a senior outside hitter, is an AVCA All-Region selection for the fourth time in her career after leading the Huskers with 3.17 kills per set and a .247 hitting percentage, the best of her four-year Husker career. A six-rotation outside hitter, Kubik ranks third on the team in digs at 2.50 per set. Kubik was also a unanimous All-Big Ten selection this season, her second career first-team accolade and the third All-Big Ten honor of her career. An AVCA third-team All-American last year, the Husker captain ranks 14th in Nebraska school history in kills with 1,255. Kubik was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 21 this season.
Rodriguez, a sophomore libero, also repeated as an AVCA All-Region and All-Big Ten First-Team selection this season. Rodriguez leads the Huskers with 4.29 digs per set and had 128 set assists in the Huskers’ 6-2 system this regular season. A unanimous selection to the All-Big Ten Team, Rodriguez has captained a Husker defense that leads the nation with a .123 opponent hitting percentage, and she ranks second on the team with 24 service aces. Rodriguez was an AVCA First-Team All-American and the AVCA National Freshman of the Year in 2021. She was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 10 this season.
Hord, a senior middle blocker, was named to the AVCA All-Region Team for the fifth time and the All-Big Ten Second Team this season after ranking among the nation’s leaders in blocks. She currently is No. 1 in the nation with 1.60 blocks per set and averages 1.40 kills per set with a .291 hitting percentage. The graduate transfer from Penn State became a five-time All-Big Ten honoree this season. She has earned three AVCA All-America selections in her career as well.
Lauenstein is averaging 2.79 kills per set while hitting .243 and has a team-high 28 service aces, which earned her a spot on the AVCA All-Region team for the first time. The sophomore opposite hitter had a career-high 25 kills on .385 hitting in a win at No. 17 Creighton on Sept. 7. It was the most kills by a Husker in a match since Mikaela Foecke had 27 kills in the NCAA Championship match against Stanford in 2018.
Allick, a freshman middle blocker, earned her first AVCA All-Region honor this season and was one of just two unanimous choices to the seven-player All-Big Ten Freshman Team. Allick was also a second-team All-Big Ten honoree. She averages 1.95 kills per set and 1.04 blocks per set with a team-best .334 hitting percentage in the regular season. Allick was a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week this season.
