CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa ---  The 2019 All-American Rivers Conference Volleyball Team as voted by the league's head coaches:
 

2019 All-American Rivers Conference Volleyball Team
Most Valuable Player & Defensive Player of the Year Katie Foster, Wartburg
Coaching Staff of the Year — Loras College (Head Coach: Jenna Ness)
All-Conference	School	Year	Position	Hometown/High School
Summer Goss #	Buena Vista University	Sr.	L/DS	Treynor, Iowa/Treynor
Sydney McLaren -h2	Buena Vista University	So.	OH	Council Bluffs, Iowa/St. Albert
Elli Teeple #	Coe College	So.	S	Ankeny, Iowa/Centennial
Kate Tidman	Coe College	Fr.	OH	Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar
Jackie Alberto	Loras College	Jr.	MB	Tinley Park, Ill./Tinley Park
Kelly Boge	Loras College	Sr.	MB	Kieler, Wis./Wahlert Catholic
Kayla Kinney	Loras College	Sr.	OH	Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde
Krystal Tranel #	Loras College	So.	L/DS	Kieler, Wis./Wahlert Catholic
Hannah Bellinghausen	Nebraska Wesleyan University	Sr.	OH/RS	Lincoln, Neb./Norris
Whitney Jensen	Nebraska Wesleyan University	Fr.	MH/RS	Grand Island, Neb./Northwest
Grace Hintze	University of Dubuque	Fr.	OH	Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant
Kara Wright # !	University of Dubuque	Sr.	OH	Stockton, Ill./Stockton
Kylie Bildstein #	Wartburg College	Jr.	MB	Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman
Katie Foster % ^ #	Wartburg College	Jr.	L/DS	Charles City, Iowa/Charles City
Jayme Willemssen -h2	Wartburg College	So.	OH	Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock
Honorable Mention	School	Year	Position	Hometown/High School
Krissa Larson -h2	Central College	So.	OH	Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock
Madi Parson	Coe College	Fr.	OH	Clinton, Iowa/Camanche
Morgan Kluesner	Coe College	Jr.	RS	Asbury, Iowa/Hempstead
Jessalyn Roling	Loras College	Sr.	S	Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic
Sam Sixta %	Luther College	Sr.	S	Altoona, Iowa/Southeast Polk
Paige Yontz	Luther College	Sr.	OH	Urbandale, Iowa/Waukee
Cora Svoboda	Nebraska Wesleyan University	Jr.	MH	Ord, Neb./Ord
Hannah Lester % -h2	Simpson College	Sr.	MH	Indianola, Iowa/Indianola
Darby Hawtrey	University of Dubuque	So.	OH	Clarence, Iowa/North Cedar
Kate Messino # $	University of Dubuque	So.	S	McHenry, Ill./Marian Central Catholic
Claire Marsh	Wartburg College	So.	S	Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock
Previous Honors
# - 2018 All-Conference
! - 2018 Conference MVP
$- 2018 Freshman of the Year
-h2 - 2018 Honorable Mention
% - 2017 All-Conference
^ - 2017 Freshman of the Year
-h3 - 2017 Honorable Mention
* - 2016 All-Conference
@ - 2016 Freshman of the Year
-h1 - 2016 Honorable Mention

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The American Rivers Conference announced today that Wartburg College junior libero/defensive specialist, Katie Foster (Charles City, Iowa/Charles City) has been selected as the league’s Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year. Loras College head coach Jenna Ness, assistants Haley Bergan, Matthew Engum, Liz Jendra, and Paige Griffith earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors. In addition to the major awards, the conference announced the15-member All-Conference team.
 
In just her junior season, Foster is now a three-time All-Conference selection. The Charles City prep also earned Freshman of the Year honors in 2017. Foster is the eighth Wartburg Player to earn league MVP honors, joining Kim Kelly (1990), Ashley Rogers (2007), Ramey Sieck (2012, 2013), Bailey Wilson (2014), Aryn Jones (2016, 2017). The 2019 season marks the first year the conference has awarded Defensive Player of the Year. It is fitting that fourteen-time conference Defensive Player of the Week award winner; Foster be the recipient in the inaugural year. Five of Foster’s Player of the Week honors were earned in 2019.
 
In 30 conference sets, Foster led the league in service aces (16) and services aces per set (.53). Defensively she ranked third in digs per set (5.67). The defensive specialist was a key factor in Wartburg’s defense that led the A-R-C in lowest opponent hitting percentage (.106), lowest opponent kills per set (10.20) while also ranking second in opponent service aces per set (1.10) and opponent assists per set (9.10).
 
In her seventh season at the helm of the Loras women’s volleyball program, Ness and assistants Bergan, Engum, Jendra, and Griffith led the Duhawks to a runner-up finish in the A-R-C regular season standings, the team’s best finish since 2015. The Duhawks finished with a 6-2 mark in conference and a 19-8 overall record. In 31 conference sets, Loras ranked third in opponent hitting percentage (.137), assist per set (11.68), opponent assists per set (11.00), and opponent kills per set (11.61). The Duhawks saw themselves finish fourth in three categories, hitting percentage (.173), kills per set (12.42), and service aces per set (1.55). Loras' Coaching Staff of the Year honors are the second under the direction of Ness (2015) and fifth in program history (1990, 2002, 2008). Additionally, three of the 2019 assistants, Bergan, Jendra, and Griffith, played for Ness.
 
Loras placed four players on this year’s All-Conference team, led by back-to-back honoree Krystal Tranel (Kieler, Wis./Wahlert Catholic). The second-year libero/defensive specialist ranked second in the league in digs per set (6.16) and fifth in service aces per set (.45). Seniors Kelly Boge (Kieler, Wis./Wahlert Catholic) and Kayla Kinney (Las Vegas, Nev./Palo Verde) each picked up their first All-Conference accolades. Boge, a middle blocker for the Duhawks, owned the conference’s 11^th best hitting percentage (.215) and totaled 17 blocks in 31 sets. As an outside hitter, Kinney averaged 2.87 kills per set to rank 12^th in the league standings. In 28 sets she provided 3.39 digs per set, ranking 11^th in the conference. Loras’ fourth All-Conference selection is junior middle blocker, Jackie Alberto (Tinley Park, Ill./Tinley Park). Alberto finished with a .346 hitting percentage in 31 conference sets to rank second in the conference. At the net she totaled 27 blocks for a .87 average per set, good for fourth best in the league.
 
In Addition to Foster, the 2019 American Rivers Conference regular season champion Wartburg Knights placed Kylie Bildstein (Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman) and Jayme Willemssen (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) on the All-Conference roster. Bildstein, a junior middle blocker, is picking up her second straight All-Conference honor. She helped lead Wartburg to the top of the A-R-C in team blocks (64) and finish second in team blocks per set (1.13), just 0.01 behind the top spot. Individually, Bildstein owned the league’s best hitting percentage (.413) and the second-best blocks per set average (1.11). Willemssen, an honorable mention honoree a season ago, joins the All-Conference squad in 2019. The second year outside hitter finished seventh in blocks per set (.70), 10^th in hitting percentage (.230), and 15^th in kills per set (2.53). Additionally, Bildstein, Foster, and Willemssen helped the Knights to an 8-0 conference record and an overall mark of 23-7. The Knight’s undefeated regular season earned them the No.1 seed in this year’s A-R-C tournament.
 
The third seed in this year’s A-R-C tournament was earned by the University of Dubuque. The Spartans placed two players on the 15-member All-Conference team. Senior outside hitter, Kara Wright (Stockton, Ill./Stockton), the conference’s MVP a season ago, concludes her career with back-to-back All-Conference selections. In 28 conference sets, Wright ranked 10^th in digs per set (3.93), 13^th in blocks per set (.57), and 15^th in kills per set (2.82). Outside hitter, Grace Hintze (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant) had a breakout first year for the Spartans garnering her selection to the All-Conference team. Hintze finished her first collegiate season with the league’s fifth best hitting percentage (.279) and ranked second in kills per set (3.85).
 
Hannah Bellinghausen (Lincoln, Neb./Norris) and Whitney Jensen (Grand Island, Neb./Northwest) received the All-Conference nod for Nebraska Wesleyan University. The duo helped the Prairie Wolves to the No.4 seed in this year’s conference tournament. Bellinghausen, a senior outside hitter for NWU, ranked sixth in kills per set (3.22), 10^th in blocks per set (.66), and 16^th in hitting percentage (.208). First-year middle hitter, Jensen finished with a 2.22 kills per set average and a .183 hitting percentage in 32 conference sets.  
 
For Coe College, the fifth seed in this year’s A-R-C tournament, Elli Teeple (Ankeny, Iowa/Centennial) collected back-to-back All-Conference honors and first-year teammate Kate Tidman (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar) also made the honor roll. Teeple, a second-year setter for the Kohawks, led the league in assists per set (10.97) and ranked ninth in service aces per set (.39). As an outside hitter, Tidman ranked first in kills per set (4.65) and seventh in hitting percentage (.263).

Summer Goss (Treynor, Iowa/Treynor) and Sydney McLaren (Council Bluffs, Iowa/St. Albert) were voted to the All-Conference squad for the A-R-C tournament’s sixth seeded team, Buena Vista. Goss, a senior defensive specialist for the Beavers is making the team for the second straight season while second year outside hitter, McLaren is making her first All-Conference team after receiving honorable mention a season ago. Goss was the conference’s leader in digs per set (6.56) and finished 16^th in service aces per set (.31). McLaren averaged 3.41 kills per set to rank fourth in the conference standings and her .212 hitting percentage stood 12^th best.
 

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