Cavanaugh Voted Horizon League Defensive Player-of-the-Year; Egler Named All-League

by YSU

Tuesday, Nov 19, 2013 3:18 pm

Youngstown State senior Jenna Cavanaugh has been voted the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, and YSU junior Alexis Egler has joined her on the All-Horizon League team, the conference office announced on Monday.

Cavanaugh is the first Penguin to earn conference player-of-the-year honors since Jill Raslevich was the Mid-Continent Conference Player of the Year in 1995. Egler and Cavanaugh are the first YSU duo to earn all-league accolades in the same season since Kristen Meech and Vickie Robinson were first-team honorees in the Mid-Con in 1999.

Cavanaugh was voted the conference's preseason defensive player of the year, and she met expectations by leading the circuit in blocking for the second straight season. Cavanaugh, a native of Cold Spring, Ky., ranks 14th in the country with 1.47 blocks per set. That's 0.21 more per set than the closest league player. Cavanaugh upped her play to average 1.58 per set during conference play. She added a .335 attack percentage in league matches, which ranked third in the circuit, as an effective offensive player. Cavanaugh's efforts have helped Youngstown State rank 27th in the country in blocks.

With the Horizon League Tournament still upcoming, Cavanaugh is tied-for-sixth in school history with 363 career blocks. Cavanaugh's career average of 1.17 blocks per set ranks second-best in school history behind Meech's record of 1.37.

Egler became Youngstown State's primary offensive weapon in October and responded to average 2.98 kills per set in Horizon League play, the seventh-most in the conference. Egler, a native of Clarkston, Mich., also averaged an impressive 2.63 digs and 0.44 blocks per set in league matches as a six-rotation player. Entering the league tournament, Egler has 316 kills and 297 digs this season. If she can collect three digs in the postseason, she'll become the 12th player to record 300 kills and 300 digs in the same season.

The fifth-seeded Penguins will play fourth-seeded Green Bay in the first match of the Horizon League Tournament on Friday at 5:30 p.m. Eastern in Milwaukee.

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