LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its 37th annual All-America teams for Division III on Tuesday and Gustavus star setter Nora Holtan (Jr., Rochester, Minn.) has been named to the First Team, while her younger sister Kate Holtan (Fy., Rochester, Minn.) received Honorable Mention.
Nora Holtan
The All-America award is her second consecutive and adds on to a decorated list of awards for Nora Holtan as she was named the 2017 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Player-of-the-Year as well as AVCA All-Region, both her second consecutive as well. Holtan became the third-straight Gustavus volleyball player to be named MIAC Player-of-the-Year in the 28 years of the award. In 2015, Holtan was named AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year. Holtan is the seventh Gustie to earn All-America honors, and joins Valerie Flom (1985, ’86) as the only two Gusties to have received multiple First-Team accolades.
Holtan guides the Black and Gold offense and has recorded 1,147 assists (17th/NCAA), averaging 10.15 per set. Nora also surpassed the 3,000-assist mark earlier this season and currently ranks fourth in program history with 3,346 assists. An all-around leader for the Gusties, Holtan has tallied 164 kills (1.45 per set), 340 digs (3.01 per set), 33 blocks (0.26 per set), and 29 aces (0.29 per set). While owning a .273 attack percentage, Holtan has tallied double-digit numbers in 18 matches this season.
Kate Holtan
Following in her sister’s footsteps, Kate Holtan receives All-America Honorable Mention after recently being named the 2017 AVCA Central Region Freshman of the Year and the MIAC Rookie of the Year. Holtan has led the Gustie attack this season with 386 kills, averaging 3.42 per set, to go along with a .251 hitting percentage. Having played in all 113 sets, Kate has posted double-digit kill numbers in 22 of 32 matches while recording seven double-doubles. Kate is Gustavus’s program record holder for kills by a first-year.
The Gusties punched their ticket to the NCAA quarterfinals last Saturday, upsetting region host and No. 1 seed Northwestern-St. Paul in four sets, capturing their first region championship in program history to reach the “Elite 8” for the first time since 1984. Gustavus will face Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Grand Rapids, Michigan at 3 p.m. (EST) on Thursday.