HAT TRICK: Roberts tabbed for third time as region’s best

Roberts, Keamo are region's best — Hailey Roberts is South Central Region Player of the Year and Jordyn Keamo is second-team all-region, according to the Division II Conference Commissioner's Association. || Courtesy Tarleton Athletics

Special to The Flash Today
TarletonSports.com

STEPHENVILLE (November 28 ,2017) – Hailey Roberts and Jordyn Keamo were recognized among the best volleyball players in the South Central region Tuesday afternoon when the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association All-Region teams were released.

Roberts claimed the region’s top honor by being named the South Central Region Player of the Year for the third consecutive year. She was also tabbed as a first-team all-region selection while Keamo earned second-team recognition.

“I’ve said all along that we’re very fortunate to have two of the best players in all of Division II and this is just another accomplishment in a long list of awards for these two,” said head coach Mary Schindler. “Hailey has had an incredible career and will be remembered as one of the greatest TexAnns to ever play and Jordyn, even though it’s only been two years, should be right there with her. These two have been tremendous assets to our program and I’m looking forward to watching them continue to compete through the NCAA playoffs.”

Roberts leads the team with 523 kills this season, including 4.63 kills per set, on a .252 hitting percentage. She also leads the team with 579.0 points and has 30 aces, 28 assists, 338 digs, and 47 blocks in her senior season. She broke the school’s all-time kills record last year and is currently chasing the Lone Star Conference record for kills (2,405). Roberts enters the regional tournament with 2,368 career kills and is second all-time in league history.

The senior outside hitter from Cedar Park was recently named the Lone Star Conference Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, and first-team all-conference. She was a six-time LSC Offensive Player of the Week award winner in 2017 and earned 17 career weekly honors in her four-year career.

Keamo led Tarleton to a 29-5 record with 1,084 assists this season, which led the TexAnns to a league-leading .246 team hitting percentage. In addition to her assists, Keamo boasted 162 kills on a .266 hitting percentage to go along with 64 service aces and 309 digs. She enters the NCAA tournament with 2,363 career assists, which is third all-time behind Danielle Barker (3,324) and Jessie Hartman (3,266).

The senior setter from Mililani, Hawaii was recently named the Lone Star Conference Setter of the Year and first-team all-conference for the second consecutive season. She was a four-time LSC Setter of the Week in 2017 and earned seven weekly honors from the league over the last two years.

The TexAnn tandem has led Tarleton to its second Lone Star Conference regular season championship and LSC Tournament championship in school history this year, becoming the first team in program history and the fourth team in Tarleton’s NCAA Athletic history to claim both titles in the same year. Tarleton is currently the No. 2-ranked team in the region and will open the national playoffs Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT / 2:30 p.m. MT in Denver against West Texas A&M.

The D2CCA awards are voted on by sports information directors from across the nation, each region is voted on by the directors within that region. The first-team award winners will advanced to the national ballot for All-America consideration.