AVCA All-America Teams
 
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Mines seniors Drew Stokes and Amanda Donais led the Colorado School of Mines Volleyball team on the American Volleyball Coaches' Association's (AVCA) 2021 All-America teams with five Orediggers recognized by the coaches on Tuesday morning.
 
Stokes was voted AVCA Second-Team All-America. Donais earned AVCA Third-Team All-America. Elle Duis, Taylor Hicken and Lindsey Jin were AVCA Honorable Mention All-America. The AVCA did not put out all-region or all-America teams during the 2020-21 school year making this the fourth consecutive season that Colorado School of Mines volleyball has had at least one Oredigger on the top three squads, and the second straight season with multiple individuals on the top three squads. Mines' three honorable mention players mark the most in a season in program history. St. Cloud State's Kenzie Foley was named AVCA 2021 National Freshman of the Year. National Coach and Player of the Year will be announced on Dec. 8. The 2021 All-America selections were made by the AVCA Division II All-America Committee featuring a chairperson plus one representative from each region.
 
With her second-team nod, Stokes boasts AVCA First-Team All-America, AVCA Second-Team All-America, AVCA Third-Team All-America and AVCA National Freshman of the Year on her career resume. It adds to a season in which Stokes won AVCA First-Team All-Region, D2CCA First-Team All-Region, RMAC Setter of the Year for the third time in her career, and her fourth consecutive First-Team All-RMAC selection. She led the nation's top hitting offense with 1,279 assists in 30 matches. Stokes' 11.84 assists per set currently rank #2 in the nation while she ranks #7 in the country in total assists with the Elite Eight left to play. No other player in the RMAC or region had more assists or assists per set than Stokes. The Murphysboro, Ill., native bolstered her resume with 197 digs, 95 kills, 47 service aces and 37 blocks while hitting .330 on offense. In four seasons, Stokes boasts 18 RMAC Setter of the Week awards including four this fall. Her 4,624 career assists rank #2 all-time at Mines while her 1,279 assists this season currently ranked #6 on the Orediggers' all-time single-season list. Additionally, Stokes' 47 aces this fall tied for second most in a single season in program history.
 
Donais' AVCA Third-Team All-America selection marks the first all-America award of her career. It adds to a pile of season awards that includes AVCA First-Team All-Region, D2CCA Second-Team All-Region and First-Team All-RMAC. She also earned Second-Team All-RMAC in 2018, 2019 and spring of 2021. Her season hitting percentage of .333 ranked #5 in the RMAC and #60 in the nation. The senior also ranked #9 in the RMAC in points per set, #10 in kills per set, and #12 in total service aces. Her season resume featured 270 kills on .333 hitting with 30 service aces, 29 assists, 169 digs and 47 total blocks. Not only is Donais a four-time All-RMAC player, she's also a two-time RMAC All-Tournament team member. This fall, the Californian surpassed 800 kills and 600 digs for her career while tallying three double-doubles which makes 17 in her career.
 
For Hicken, her AVCA Honorable Mention All-America is the first national recognition of her career. It follows 2021 AVCA First-Team All-Region, D2CCA First-Team All-Region and First-Team All-RMAC.  She also earned First-Team All-RMAC last spring. Her attack percentage of .429 was #1 in the RMAC, #1 in the South Central Region and #5 in the nation. Hicken was also #3 in the RMAC in total points, points per set and total kills while sitting #7 in kills per set and total service aces. The Littleton, Colo., native put together a season resume featuring 345 kills on .410 hitting with 35 aces, 68 total blocks, 87 digs and 17 assists. In her career, the graduate of Dakota Ridge High School also touts Honorable Mention All-RMAC, RMAC All-Tournament, RMAC First-Team All-Academic, two RMAC Academic Honor Rolls and six RMAC Offensive Player of the Week awards. This fall, Hicken moved beyond 900 kills and 200 total blocks in her career. Her .636 hitting percentage at Westminster in September ranks #3 all-time at Mines while she sits #7 and #13 with performances of .688 and 667 as well. Hicken's season hitting percentage of .410 also ranks #2 all-time at Mines.
 
Jin's honorable mention honor is also the first national ward of her career. Earlier this season she earned AVCA First-Team All-Region and Second-Team All-RMAC. It bolsters a career resume including AVCA South Central Region Freshman of the year and AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region and three additional All-RMAC awards. Jin racked up the 2021 accolades thanks to the RMAC's #11 hitting percentage among many other statistics. In 30 matches, the Colorado Springs native boasted 259 kills, 111 digs, 33 total blocks and 16 aces. Her hitting percentage of .867 against Black Hills State on Sept. 25, not only broke the program record but ranks #1 in the nation for hitting percentage in a single match this season on 15-19 attempts. As a graduate student, Jin finished her career touting 1,278 career kills which ranks #8 on Mines' all-time list.
 
Duis brought home AVCA Honorable Mention All-America after claiming AVCA Honorable Mention All-Region, First-Team All-RMAC and RMAC All-Tournament. It was her second straight selection to the conference's first team after earning the same distinction last spring. Her 495 digs for the season finished #2 in the RMAC, as did her 4.58 digs per set. The 495 digs also ranked #10 in the program record book. The Texan accomplished both of those marks on the #1 hitting team in the country which essentially means she is doing more with fewer opportunities. The senior libero also owned 25 service aces. Her 97 career aces rank #8 all-time at Mines while her 1,783 digs are fourth-most in program history. Since 2018, Duis has earned Honorable Mention All-RMAC, Second-Team All-RMAC, NCAA South Central All-Tournament, two RMAC First-Team All-Academic selections, one RMAC All-Tournament and two RMAC Defensive Player of the Week awards.
 
As a team, Mines finished the fall 2021 campaign with an overall record of 26-4 which marks the highest winning percentage in a single season in program history. The Orediggers also went 16-2 in RMAC play and earned the second seed for the conference tournament which they won in five sets over then #1-ranked MSU Denver. Mines' season resulted in its 12th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament where the Orediggers fell in the first round in five sets to seventh-seeded West Texas A&M. With the NCAA Elite Eight left to play, Mines ranks #1 in the nation in team hitting percentage, #4 in assists per set, #5 in kills per set and #6 in overall winning percentage. Also notable was 21 straight sets won which marked the longest set winning streak in Oredigger history.
 
With the 2021 season in the books, the only awards remaining are the 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-America team set to be released next week. All awards as well as the 2021-22 signing class will be announced at www.minesathletics.com.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines volleyball on Twitter at @MinesVolleyball and on Instagram at @Mines_Volleyball. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.