ANNVILLE, Pa. – The Middle Atlantic Conferences (MAC) announced the Women's Volleyball All-Century Team as a part of their 100-year anniversary celebration Wednesday 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 MVP's and eight hall of fame inductees.
"It's a great honor," said current Eagle head coach Heather Pavlik ('95) who was named to the all-century team (1993-2002). "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.
"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.
Below is a full list of the Eagles named to the MAC 100 All-Century Team.
MAC 100 Volleyball All-Century Team (1912-1985)
Sue Barker ('83) – AVCA All-American ('82), two-time MAC All-Star ('81-'82), Juniata MVP ('81), Juniata Hall of Fame Inductee ('96)
Colleen Irelan ('84) – AVCA All-American ('82), two-time MAC All-Star ('81-'82), Juniata Hall of Fame Inductee ('03)
Ekanong Opanayikul ('85) – AVCA All-American ('84), three-time MAC All-Star ('82-'84)
Claudia Tweardy ('83) – AVCA All-American ('82), three-time MAC All-Star ('80-'82), Juniata MVP ('82), Juniata Hall of Fame Inductee ('99)
MAC 100 Volleyball All-Century Team (1986-1992)
Rhonda Bygall ('90) – AVCA All-American ('89), Asics/Tiger All-American ('89), two-time MAC All-Star ('88-'89), Juniata Hall of Fame Inductee ('00)
Jackie Rebert ('89) – Two-time AVCA All-American ('87-'88), Asics/Tiger All-American ('88), three-time MAC All-Star ('86-'88), Juniata MVP ('88), Juniata Hall of Fame Inductee ('99)
Melinda Selby ('90) – AVCA All-American ('89), Asics/Tiger All-American ('89), two-time MAC All-Star ('88-'89)
Larissa Weimer ('92) – AVCA All-American ('91), Asics/Tiger All-American ('91), two-time MAC All-Star ('90-'91), Juniata MVP ('90), Juniata Hall of Fame Inductee ('03)
MAC 100 Volleyball All-Century Team (1993-2002)
Heather Blough Pavlik ('95) – Three-time AVCA All-American ('92-'94), three-time Asics/Tiger All-American ('92-'94), two-time MAC All-Star ('93-'94), two-time Juniata MVP ('92, '94), Juniata Hall of Fame Inductee ('05)
Kristin Hershey ('00) – Three-time AVCA All-American ('97-'99), two-time Asics/Tiger All-American ('98-'99), three-time MAC All-Star ('97-'99), Juniata Hall of Fame Inductee ('10)
Niki Mueller ('03) – Two-time AVCA All-American ('01-'02), Asics/Tiger All-American ('02), three-time MAC All-Star ('00-'02), two-time Juniata MVP ('01-'02)
Jennifer Rebert ('98) – Two-time AVCA All-American ('95-'96), Asics/Tiger All-American ('95), three-time MAC All-Star ('95-'97), Juniata MVP ('95)
Brandy Workinger ('02) – Two-time AVCA All-American ('00-'01), two-time Asics/Tiger All-American ('00-'01), three-time MAC All-Star ('99-'01), Juniata MVP ('00)
Follow Your Eagles! Stay up-to-date on your Juniata College Eagles by following us on twitter (@JuniataEagles) and on Facebook (Juniata Eagles).
