The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) released the 2019 All-Region teams on Wednesday afternoon, and senior Anna Winter became the first Peacock in program history to earn on place on the All-Central Region team following her historic senior season. She joins 10 other Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference players on the first team made up of 13 student-athletes as well as one on the honorable mention team.
Winter rose to new heights as a senior breaking a handful of individual season records along the way. She hammered down 469 total kills in 1,245 attempts to notch a 506.5-point season, shattering all three program records in the process. The Rochester, Minn. product also set a new program mark for kills per set with a 4.3 average that finished second in the NSIC and seventh in all of NCAA Division II. Winter posted a .309 hitting efficiency (12th NSIC), and added 124 digs, 41 blocks, 15 aces, and five assists.
"Congratulations to Anna for this well-deserved award. It's an incredible honor for her to be included in a group of All-Region players that are some of the best in the country. It's another special feather in her cap and a credit to how much energy and effort she puts into everything she does." -Head Coach Aaron Nelson
In addition to All-Central Region honors, Winter scored a pair of awards at the NSIC Championships including a spot on the NSIC Championships All-Tournament Team and the NSIC Elite 18 Award for volleyball, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NSIC's 18 championships. She also earned her third-straight all-conference nod earlier this season with a spot on the All-NSIC First Team.
Winter finished her remarkable career ranked second all-time with 1,349 total kills, joining just four other Peacocks with over 1,000 career kills. Along with her kills, she recorded 148 total blocks (10 solo) and 55 aces to rank fourth all-time with 1,483 career points, while contributing 447 digs and 31 assists along with the way.
The volleyball program ended the 2019 campaign in the NSIC Championship Semifinals after another outstanding season in the Northern Sun Conference. The Peacocks posted a 21-9 record overall, a 12-8 mark in NSIC matches and were ranked in the AVCA Division II Top-25 poll for 11 straight weeks including their current ranking at No. 18, the highest ranking in program history. Both of Upper Iowa's overall and NSIC win totals tie the program records for wins in a season and wins in the conference, and were highlighted by four wins over opponents ranked higher than them including two victories over top-5 teams.
