Tong, Lyons Earn 1st Team All-GLIAC Honors
Junior Hannah Tong and senior Julie Lyons have been named first team all-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) performers for the 2015 season. The announcement was made during the GLIAC semifinal games in Big Rapids, Mich. on Nov. 21.
As a team, Findlay is leading the conference in kills, with a major cog in the machine being the play of Hannah Tong, who has led the Oilers in kills for the second year in a row. This season the junior outside hitter has amassed 449 kills at a rate of 3.97 kills per set. Both of those marks are good for second in the GLIAC while her kills place her ninth all-time at UF for kills in a season. For her career, Tong has 1,023 kills, which is good for ninth all-time at Findlay, just 95 behind 2014 graduate Danielle Taflinger.
The Carey, Ohio native has also picked up 54 blocks this season, the third best mark on the team.
This first team all-conference award is the second of Tong's career as she was awarded the same honor following her 2014 campaign. She was also named the GLIAC Attacker of the Year and an AVCA Division II All-American in 2014. Tong has been named GLIAC Player of the Week five times during her tenure with the Oilers.
Julie Lyons is another player that has been an indispensable piece of the Oilers offense. For the season, Lyons has accumulated 241 kills while hitting an impressive .408. That percentage is tops in the GLIAC this season and ranks as the eighth best mark in the country. The previous record for hitting percentage in a season is held by Danielle Taflinger, who sits in the top three spots with percentages of .360, .352, and .344. Lyons' efforts have led Findlay to a team hitting percentage of .286, a mark that is the best in the GLIAC and fifth best in the country. Lyons is also second on the team with 86 blocks.
This is the first all-conference award Lyons has received in her career. The senior from Dover, Ohio has earned two GLIAC Player of the Week honors this season.
Earning second team all-conference honors is sophomore Nickyla Garverick. In her second season of action, Garverick has smashed 278 kills with a hitting percentage of .390. Her hitting percentage is second in the GLIAC, behind only Lyons, and is good for 11th in the country. Garverick is also on pace to top the old school record for hitting percentage in a season.
The middle blocker from Crestline, Ohio has also been valuable at the net as she leads the Oilers with 92 blocks this season.
This is the second all-GLIAC award Garverick has earned as she picked up first team all-league honors a season ago. In that 2014 campaign, she also earned GLIAC Blocker of the Year, was voted as the GLIAC Freshman of the Year, and earned AVCA All-American honors.
In addition, freshman setter Hailee Olson earned honorable mention all-conference accolades. Olson leads the GLIAC in assists (1,370) and assists per set (12.02). Her assists per set mark is also the seventh best total in the nation.