FAIRBANKS – Add another award to
Jessa Long's name. This one cements her as only the second All-American in Alaska Nanooks volleyball program history. On Wednesday, Nov. 30, Long was named to the AVCA Division II All-American Honorable Mention Team.
The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced their 41
st annual All-America Teams for NCAA Division II women's volleyball and their announcement with full teams can be found here –
CLICK HERE
"We're very proud of Jessa and her hard work all season." Said head coach
Brian Scott, "Her and her teammates deserve the recognition for all their efforts during a long season of competition. Jessa will be forever remembered at UAF for her confidence, fun personality, hard work, and many other lessons she helped teach our program." Long, the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and GNAC First Team All-Conference Libero was also named an Honorable Mention selection for the AVCA All-Region Team. She joined the Nanooks this past offseason after spending three years as the libero for Florida A&M in the NCAA Division I Southwestern Athletic Conference.
On the season, Long led the conference and ranks 56
th in Division II with 4.72 digs per set while also leading the GNAC and ranking 36th in the division with 543 total digs. On Sept. 24, 2022 against Western Washington in Fairbanks, Long tallied 34 digs, tying the fourth-most in Nanook single-game history. Her historic run did not end there. She then posted 32 on Nov. 10, 2022 at Saint Martin's in a five-set win over the Saints, tying the ninth-most in a single-game by a Nanook and solidifying herself in the Alaska Nanooks volleyball program history book by breaking the single-season total digs record.
She ended the season with 543 digs, shattering the former record of 506, set by Jenna Hickel in the 2017 season. This season, Long posted nine games with 20+ digs, including three with 30+. Only one time did she not reach 10+ digs in a single game, going for 10+ in 29 of 30 matches.
Long was the first Nanook since AveRee Reynolds (2019 GNAC Newcomer of the Year) to win an individual conference award and becomes the first Nanooks volleyball player to win the Defensive Player of the Year Award since its inception in 2012. She also becomes the first Nanook named to the AVCA All-Region Team since Sam Harthun, who was a two-time Honorable Mention selection in 2013 and 2015. Finally, Long becomes just the second Nanook volleyball player to earn the All-American title, with the last coming back in 2003 when Mallory Bergstrom also earned AVCA Honorable Mention honors.
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