CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa ---  The 2021 All-American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Volleyball Team as voted by the league's head coaches:

2021 All-American Rivers Conference Volleyball Team
Most Valuable Player Kylie Bildstein, Sr., Wartburg
Defensive Player of the Year Katie Foster, Sr., Wartburg
Coaching Staff of the Year Wartburg College Co-Head Coaches - Jennifer Walker & Doug Frazell (Assistant: Kaitlyn Brouwer)
All-Conference	School	Year	Position	Hometown/High School
Krissa Larson -h2 -h3 -h4	Central College	Sr.	OH	Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock
Madi Parson -h3 $	Coe College	Jr.	OH	Clinton, Iowa/Camanche
Majda Suljic $	Coe College	Sr.	L	Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls
Elli Teeple # * $ !	Coe College	Sr.	S	Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny Centennial
Kate Tidman * $	Coe College	Jr.	OH	Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar
Liz Fleckenstein	Loras College	Sr.	U	Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic
Krystal Tranel # * -h4	Loras College	Gr.	L/DS	Kieler, Wis./Wahlert Catholic
Lyndsi Wilgenbusch	Loras College	Sr.	Pin	Epworth, Iowa/Western Dubuque
Jessica Jacobs	Simpson College	Jr.	MH	Janesville, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock
Darby Hawtrey -h3 $	University of Dubuque	Sr.	OPP	Clarence, Iowa/North Cedar
Emma Powell -h4	University of Dubuque	So.	OH	Eldridge, Iowa/North Scott
Kylie Bildstein # * $	Wartburg College	Sr.	MH	Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman
Katie Foster % ^ # @ ? & $	Wartburg College	Sr.	L/DS	Charles City, Iowa/Charles City
Claire Marsh -h3 -h4	Wartburg College	Sr.	S	Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock
Zaiah Quirk $	Wartburg College	Sr.	OH	Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale
Honorable Mention	School	Year	Position	Hometown/High School
Sydney McLaren -h2 * $	Buena Vista University	Sr.	OH	Council Bluffs, Iowa/St. Albert
Landry Luhring $	Central College	Sr.	L	Grundy Center, Iowa/Grundy Center
Grace Lueken -h4	Coe College	So.	MH	Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic
Sara Hoskins	Loras College	So.	S	Bettendorf, Iowa/Pleasant Valley
Sarina Stortz	Luther College	So.	MB	Mabel, Minn./Mabel-Canton
Addie Thomas	Nebraska Wesleyan University	Fr.	OH	Elkhorn, Neb./Elkhorn
Iman Ghalibaf	Simpson College	So.	DS	Irving, Texas/Ranchview
Marissa Salber	Simpson College	Jr.	S	Omaha, Neb./Millard North
Jayme Willemssen	Wartburg College	Sr.	RS	Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock
Previous Honors
$ - 2020 All-Conference
! - 2020 Most Valuable Player
& - 2020 Defensive Player of the Year
-h4 - 2020 Honorable Mention
@ - 2019 Most Valuable Player
? - 2019 Defensive Player of the Year
* - 2019 All-Conference
-h3 - 2019 Honorable Mention
# - 2018 All-Conference
-h2 - 2018 Honorable Mention
% - 2017 All-Conference
^ - 2017 Freshman of the Year
Note: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the NCAA blanket eligibility waiver, some athletes may receive more than four all-conference honors.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) announced today that Wartburg College senior middle hitter Kylie Bildstein (Dyersville, Iowa/Beckman) has been selected as the league’s Most Valuable Player. Wartburg College senior libero/defensive specialist, Katie Foster (Charles City, Iowa/Charles City) has been named Defensive Player of the Year for the third straight season. Wartburg College co-head coaches Jennifer Walker and Doug Frazell earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors. In addition to the major awards, the conference also announced the 15-member All-Conference team.

Bildstein, in her senior season, becomes a four-time All-Conference honoree. In four of her five seasons with the Knights, she has taken home the All-Conference honor and this year has been named Most Valuable Player in the league. The senior helped guide the nationally ranked No. 4 Knights to their seventh consecutive conference title and first undefeated season in program history. The Beckman Catholic prep posted a prolific season both on the offensive and defensive sides. Bildstein tops the American Rivers Conference leader boards with 1.21 blocks per set and is nationally ranked No. 4 with a hitting percentage of .431. The Dyersville native closes out her career being a six-time Offensive Player of the Week and taking home American Rivers Conference Athlete of the Week twice.
 
This year, Foster collects her fifth All-Conference honor. In four of her five seasons, Foster has taken home at least one of the conference’s major awards. She started her career by earning 2017 Freshman of the Year honors. Since 2019, when the Defensive Player of the Year recognition began, the Charles City prep has been the only recipient. The Wartburg senior was also named Most Valuable Player in 2019. She closes out her stellar career with Wartburg as a twenty-one-time Defensive Player of the Week award winner.
 
Foster topped the American Rivers Conference leader boards with 5.59 digs per set. This came behind the Wartburg front line that led the conference in blocks and sit No. 8 nationally. She also led the Knight’s back-row defense and holding opponents to a hitting percentage .088.
 
In their nine years together at the helm of the Wartburg College volleyball program, Walker and Frazell led the No. 4 Knights to their seventh consecutive A-R-C title with a conference record of 8-0. The 2021 season is marked as the team’s best going 25-0 and the program’s first undefeated season. In 88 sets, Wartburg topped the league in digs (21.03/set), opponent service aces (0.97/set), blocks (2.48), kills (13.28/set), opponent kills (9.90/set), hitting percentage (.260), and opponent hitting percentage (.088). Wartburg’s Coaching Staff of the Year honors are the fourth in the Walker-Frazell co-head coaching era and fifth in Walker’s head coaching tenure at Wartburg.
 
Along with Bildstein and Foster’s honors, Wartburg placed two players on this year’s All-Conference team, led by 2020 All-Conference honoree, Zaiah Quirk (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale). Quirk is joined by fellow senior teammate Claire Marsh (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) who is a 2019 and 2020 All-Conference Honorable Mention Honoree.
 
Quirk sits inside the top-15 with a hitting percentage of .237. She led the Knights with 92 kills in league play (3.17/set) and sits She finished second on the team with 246 kills on the season (2.89/set) and sits eleventh in the conference averaging 3.59 points/set.
 
Marsh guided the No.4 Knights offense and sits at second in the conference in assists per set (10.38) and sits fourth with 301 total assists. The senior sits eleventh in the conference averaging 3.38 digs per set (92 total).
 
Krissa Larson (Waverly, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) was voted an All-Conference performer from Central College. After honorable mention recognition in 2018, 2019, and 2020, the Waverly, Iowa native is picking up her first All-Conference honor. The senior outside hitter paced the Dutch offense with a team-leading 108 kills (3.48/set), which sits her in the top ten in the A-R-C (6^th). She also added 3.58 points per set.
 
Jessica Jacobs (Janesville, Iowa/Waverly-Shell Rock) from Simpson College earned her first All-Conference honor. The junior tops the conference with 5.06 kills per set and 5.46 points per set. She leads the Storm in kills with 177.
 
Coe College has four players recognized on this year’s All-Conference team, as Kate Tidman (Bondurant, Iowa/Bondurant-Farrar), Ellie Teeple (Ankeny, Iowa/Centennial), Madi Parson (Clinton, Iowa/Camanche), and Majda Suljic (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) picked up honors for the Kohwaks.
 
Tidman, a three-time All-Conference Honoree, propelled the Kohawks offensive production and found herself second in the conference with 4.06 kills per set. The junior is nine shy of 400 kills on the season, which ranks third in the conference. She also sits in eighteenth for the conference in aces per set averaging 0.32 per set.
 
Teeple, now four-time All-Conference honoree and 2020 Most Valuable Player, tops the conference with 11.10 assists per set. The senior setter helped lead the Kohawk’s to a 7-1 conference record.
 
The junior outside hitter and two-time All-Conference Performer, Parson, aided the Kohawks offensively by recording 2.94 kills per set which ranks top-15 in the conference. She also leads the conference with 0.71 aces per set.
 
Suljic, as the team’s primary defender and passer, averaged 4.65 digs per set to rank fifth in the conference. The senior tallied 20 or more digs in twelve of the team’s thirty games.
 
Loras College has three players recognized on this year’s All-Conference team, as Lydnsi Wilgenbusch (Epworth, Iowa/ Western Dubuque), Liz Fleckenstein (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic), and Krystal Tranel (Kieler, Wis./Wahlert Catholic) picked up honors for the Duhawks. Wilgenbush found herself among the top-five in league play with 3.74 kills per set. The senior outside hitter helped lead the Duhawks to a third-place finish in the conference by earning 3.94 points per game to rank fifth in the conference. Fleckenstein was also a part of propelling the Duhawk’s offense by averaging 3.63 kills per set to rank fifth in the conference. The senior also finds herself among the top-10 (8th) scoring 3.86 points per game. Graduate student, Tranel earned her third-career All-Conference honor (2018, 2019, 2021) in addition to honorable mention recognition in 2020. She led the defense for the Duhawks with 5.23 digs per set to rank second in the conference. The Walhert Catholic prep tops the conference with 183 total digs during league play.
 
Darby Hawtrey (Clarence, Iowa/North Cedar) and Emma Powell (Eldridge Iowa/North Scott) bring in All-Conference recognition for the Spartans of the University of Dubuque. Hawtrey, a senior opposite hitter, finds herself No. 8 in the conference averaging 3.32 kills per set proving to be an important asset to the Spartan’s offense. The 2020 All-Conference performer finds herself among the top-10 (9th) in points per game with 3.77. Powell, the sophomore outside hitter, led Dubuque’s team in kills (103) and second in service aces (13). She also finds herself among the top-15 in conference with 3.26 digs per set.

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