ANNVILLE - The Middle Atlantic Conferences announced the Women's Volleyball All-Century Team as a part of its 100-year anniversary celebration recently and Juniata College dominated the list from 1912-2002, receiving 13 of the 22 nods.
Juniata was a member of the MAC from 1977-2006. Combined, the Juniata all-century team members include 34 All-American honors, 33 MAC All-Star Awards, 10 Juniata MVPs and eight hall of fame inductees.
"It's a great honor," said current Eagle coach Heather Pavlik ('95) who was named to the 1993-2002 all-century team. "Obviously, there have been a lot of great players over the years in the MAC and it's a very nice honor."
The all-century teams are listed in four groups: 1912-1985, 1986-1992, 1993-2002 and 2003-2011. Pavlik was one of five Eagles on the 1993-2002 team, which was the largest group from any one school in either time frame.
"Interestingly enough, I think it's sort of neat that everyone listed with me, I coached," said Pavlik of her group. "These were some of the people I embarked on my coaching career with initially and that's very special. All four of those players were wonderful players. Wonderful to coach and good teammates and were very, very successful here."
Listed with Pavlik were Kristin Hersey ('00), Niki Mueller ('03), Jennifer Rebert ('98) and Brandy Workinger ('02). Her connection with other student-athletes on the all-century teams extends into the class before hers as well.
Fact Box
Soaring Eagles
A full list of the Eagles named to the MAC 100 All-Century Team:
1912-1985
Sue Barker, Colleen Irelan, Ekanong Opanayikul, Claudia Tweardy
1986-1992
Rhonda Bygall, Jackie Rebert, Melinda Selby, Larissa Weimer
1993-2002
Heather Blough Pavlik, Kristin Hershey, Niki Mueller, Jennifer Rebert, Brandy Workinger
"I played with Larisa Weimer," Pavlik added. "She was actually a senior when I was a freshman and she was a captain. I think a lot of what I learned about leading, I learned from Larissa. So she is an extremely special person to me. I think I still carry a lot of the things she taught me as a player along with me now that I'm a coach."
Juniata won two NCAA national championships (2004, 2006) as a member of the MAC, played in seven national championship matches and finished top three in the country 13 times. The Eagles went 332-14 overall against MAC opponents, winning 26 consecutive MAC Championships (1981-2006)with a 103-9 tournament record.
McDonald recognized
HUNTINGDON - Junior Kate McDonald was named the Landmark Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Week, the organization announced Monday. McDonald averaged over 20 points per game to help lead the Eagles to an undefeated 2-0 week and become the first Eagle basketball player this season to receive conference honors.
She shot a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line and finished the week shooting 60.7 percent from the floor. McDonald also had seven assists and five blocks in the two wins. The 5-foot-10 forward came into the week ranked fourth nationally in double-doubles. She is averaging 18 points and 10.7 rebounds per game this year and appears in eight other national categories.
