BAY CITY, Mich. - Four SVSU volleyball student-athletes were honored by being named to All-GLIAC teams on Saturday (Nov. 19) in conjunction with the 2016 GLIAC Volleyball Tournament Semifinals. Kaylee Schmitt was named to the All-GLIAC First Team as a middle hitter while Tamara Heller (OH) and Kelly Vellucci (S) earned Second Team honors. Libero Emily Nieman was also named to the All-GLIAC Honorable Mention Team for the Cardinals.
Schmitt ranked fourth in the league with a hitting percentage of .331, which led the Cardinals along with her 339 kills. She added 109 total blocks and 65 digs and is on pace to become the all-time leader in attack percentage with her career mark of .307. This marks Schmitt's second straight First Team All-GLIAC honor.
Heller earns her first All-GLIAC honors after her stellar junior campaign for the Cardinals. She racked-up 286 kills for SVSU, adding 386 digs and 39 blocks. She surpassed the 1,000 career dig mark this season and just recently posted over 500 career kills, sitting at 514 total.
Vellucci, now the all-time assists leader with 3,927 for her career, had another solid season for Saginaw Valley. She posted a career-best 1,211 assists in 2016 while adding 305 digs, 37 blocks and 82 kills.
Nieman capped a solid junior season with a top-four ranking in the GLIAC with 542 digs. The junior Libero was third on the Cardinals with 15 service aces and notched 88 assists in 114 sets for SVSU. She earned All-GLIAC honors for the first time at Saginaw Valley.
The Cardinals await their NCAA Division II postseason fate, as the 2016 selection show airs Monday (Nov. 21) at 7:30 p.m. You can watch the show live on ncaa.com by clicking here.
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