VIDEO: Julia Wheeler Interview
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tallying the highest honor in the land, Julia Wheeler was named honorable mention All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Wednesday after guiding Carson-Newman back to the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm so excited about it," Wheeler said. "I look back and think about 12-year-old Julia that just started playing volleyball and once I started finding this passion for this sport. Whenever I was 13 or 14, I thought it would be such a cool thing to go to college, play a sport and be an All-American. I think about that Julia that would be so proud of me right now. That could not happen without the team that we have right now. One accolade like that is just a reflection of the hard work that we do every single day."
The Murfreesboro, Tenn. native becomes the second All-American in Carson-Newman volleyball's program history joining Jenna Wilson from 2014. After being a first-team all-league selection and first-team AVCA and D2CCA All-Region honoree, the outside hitter ties the bow on one of the most illustrious seasons in program history.
Wheeler added to her haul of laurels for the season. For the year, the Murfreesboro, Tenn. native brings her award tally to 13 adding to a first-team All-South Atlantic Conference honor and a SAC All-Tournament team selection. Wheeler is the fourth player in program history to earn all-region nods in two separate seasons joining three-time pick Morgan Ballard and two-time selections Carly Mozgai and Nikki James.
Wheeler was one of the best players in the country this year ranking 10th in kills per set (4.38), 10th in points per set (4.83) and fifth in total kills (504). Her total kill tally is over 100 more than any other player in the SAC and was one of five players in the nation with at least 500. In the C-N record books, Wheeler's 4.38 kills per set average stands as the best in a single year passing Carly Mozgai's 4.17 set in 2010. The Murfreesboro, Tenn. native had the second-most kills for a single season in school history and finishing 19 shy of the all-time school record.
This laurel marks the 17th in her first two years on campus as she was in double figures for kills in 31 of the team's 33 matches leading the team in the category 30 times. Between last season and this year, Wheeler increased her kills per set average by one and her hitting percentage by nearly 60 points. She had tallied 18 double-doubles and five matches with 20-plus kills.
The three-time SAC Offensive Player of the Week matched a career-high with 27 kills, the second-most in a single match in school history, on a .348 hitting percentage adding 18 digs in a four-set win at Limestone on Sept. 10. Among a year of highlights, Wheeler notched a career-best .583 attack percentage with 14 kills on 24 swings in a sweep of Emory & Henry on Nov. 1.
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