FORT MYERS, Fla.- The postseason awards continued to pour in for the National Champion Florida SouthWestern State Volleyball team on Monday as Barbara Koehler was named an AVCA and VolleyballMag.com All-American while Julia Lawrenz joined her on the VolleyballMag.com All-American squad, and Head Coach Thais Baziquetto-Allen was named the AVCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year.
Koehler picks up 1st Team All-American nods from both the AVCA and VolleyballMag.com to add to her 1st Team NJCAA All-American selection last week. Koehler set a new program single season record this season, averaging 3.74 kills per set on the season which was good enough to rank in the Top 10 among NJCAA Division I hitters. Her .324 hitting percentage on the year was tops of any of the top 10 attackers in the country. She posted 21 games of 10 or more kills this season for the Bucs including all four matches at the NJCAA National Tournament to earn Tournament MVP honors.
Lawrenz earns her first All-American honors as VolleyballMag.com tabbed her one of the top 12 players in the country in 2022. Lawrenz had an outstanding season on both sides of the net, averaging 2.01 kills and 1.27 blocks per set on the year while hitting an NJCAA best .416. She was one of just four players in the NJCAA Division I ranks to average at least 2.00 kills and 1.25 blocks per set this season. She came up big when the Bucs needed her most, hitting .500 and registering 8 blocks in two matches to lead FSW to their first FCSAA State Championship where she took home MVP honors and continued her strong play at the NJCAA National Tournament where she notched 20 blocks in four matches, including 8 in the Bucs National Championship win over Miami Dade.
Baziquetto-Allen was named the AVCA Southeast Region Coach of the Year after leading the Bucs to a trifecta in 2022, winning the Suncoast Conference, FCSAA State, and NJCAA National Championships, the later two program firsts. FSW finished 27-1 on the year, defeating 18 ranked teams on the way to their National Title. It was far from a cakewalk for the Bucs though as FSW was displaced from their home arena for nearly three weeks midway through the season and played their final 15 matches of the year on the road.
Koehler, Lawrenz, and Baziquetto-Allen helped the Bucs combine for a 52-6 record the past two seasons which included a pair of Suncoast Conference Championships in which they went 29-1 in two years, as well as securing the first FCSAA State, and NJCAA National Championships in program history.
2022 AVCA TWO YEAR COLLEGE ALL-AMERICAN TEAM