2019 USCAA Women's Volleyball All-American Teams
By: Frank Maira, Assistant Director of Athletics/Sports Information Director
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – A pair of Penn State Mont Alto volleyball student-athletes garnered further postseason recognition as freshman Kylee Gooding (Warriors Mark, Pa. / Tyrone Area) earned All-American First Team honors, while senior Katie Muse (Hagerstown, Md. / Boonsboro) was placed on the Second Team by the United States Collegiate Athletic Association.
Muse registered the highest assist total on the team in each of her four years at Mont Alto. She totaled 441 helpers in 2019 including a season-high 30 against Beaver on Sept. 15, which was one of three matches in which she collected at least 25 assists. The senior finished fourth on the team with 42 aces, fourth in digs with 208, while notching 16 kills. The Hagerstown, Md., native will certainly go down as one of the most decorated setters in program history totaling 2048 assists over the course of her four-year career, which is the most by any Mont Alto student-athlete in their career since 2011.
Kylee Gooding (Warriors Mark, Pa. / Tyrone Area) had an impressive debut season for the Nittany Lions and seamlessly transitioned to the collegiate game finishing as the squad's top hitter. Gooding racked up 350 kills, which ranked fourth within the entire USCAA. She averaged 3.61 kills per set and was no slouch defensively collecting 329 digs, while her 36 blocks led the team. Arguably her best performance of the season came in the five-set victory over Penn State Brandywine on Sept. 29. The freshman finished with 21 kills, five aces and had 17 digs.
Representing the Penn State Mont Alto volleyball team on the USCAA National All-Academic Team were sophomore's Kirstyn Black (Saint Thomas, Pa. / James Buchanan), Kimmy Harker (Huntingdon, Pa. / Juniata Valley), Rachel Manikowski (Mercersburg, Pa. / James Buchanan) and Alyssa Roberts (Newville, Pa. / Big Spring).
To be honored on the USCAA National All-Academic team student-athletes must have 24 or more credits on their USCAA transcripts with each of their cumulative grade point averages being 3.50 or greater. A full list of the 2019 USCAA Volleyball National All-Academic Award winners can be found here.
Penn State Mont Alto concluded their 2019 season with a 16-11 overall record. PSUMA ripped off two separate five-match win streaks and will return most of it's starting lineup for the 2020 season.
Be sure to stay up to date on all your Penn State Mont Alto news, scores, and awards by following @PSUMAathletics on Twitter and by liking the "Penn State Mont Alto Athletics" Facebook page
