AVCA Release
 
LEXINGTON, Ky. – With the opening round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament tipping off on Thursday, the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) formally published its list of All-Region honorees. For the second consecutive season, the Ithaca College women's volleyball program was represented by multiple student-athletes, as senior setter Caitlyn Floyd and junior right side Reagan Stone were both tabbed First Team selections in the New York Region.
 
The announcement marked a significant milestone in the history of the IC program. Thursday's All-Region reveal represented the first time in the 51-year history of the varsity women's volleyball program that a pair of teammates garnered First Team All-Region praise in back-to-back seasons. Floyd and Stone both earned AVCA All-Region First Team praise last season as well, both players going on to garner AVCA All-America honors on the Third Team and Second Team, respectively. While Ithaca has had several student-athletes repeat as All-Region honorees, Floyd and Stone are the first pair of teammates to earn the recognition in consecutive seasons.
 
Thursday's news was punctuated by the revelation that Stone was also voted on among the region's coaches as the New Region Player of the Year. It is the second time in three seasons that Stone has collected a major recognition in the All-Region release, as she was also tabbed as the New York Region Rookie of the Year during her debut season in 2017. The release also marked the third consecutive season that Stone has garnered praise on the region's First Team during her career.
 
Floyd and Stone have formed one of the most potent duos in the country over the past couple seasons. That special connection continued again in 2019, as both players have registered career seasons in helping the Bombers capture an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament for a third straight season and fifth consecutive appearance, overall. Each player has dominated the Liberty League statistically and the pair is among the nation's very best heading into this weekend.
 
Floyd entered the year already distinguished among the very best setters to ever don the IC jersey. Coming off a fantastic 2018 campaign, which culminated in her being named an AVCA Third Team All-American, Ithaca's lone senior could not have asked for a stronger conclusion to her star-studded collegiate career. She enters this weekend having already eclipsed the 1,000-assist mark for a third consecutive year, amassing 1,120 helpers through 27 matches this season. She is just 42-assists shy of her previous career high in the statistic despite having played 23 less sets to this point in the year compared the 2017 campaign in which she achieved that career high.
 
It has not just been the assists that have distinguished Floyd among the nation's best setters. The senior has repeatedly stuffed the stat-sheet this season, racking up 73 kills, 214 digs, 47.0 total blocks, and 22 service aces on the year. Her dig and block totals also represent new career highs for a single-season, while her per set kill average is well above last year's mark in which she registered a career-best 84 kills (107 sets played). With this past weekend under her belt, Floyd has now become just the third IC player to ever eclipse the 4,000-assist mark for her career, entering this weekend ranked third in program history with 4,062.
 
For the season, Floyd was the far-and-away leader in the Liberty League among setters. Her 1,120 helpers were nearly 200 more than her next closest counterpart – St. Lawrence's Jenna Britton (924) – while her per-set average of 11.31 not only represents a new career best, but is also nearly 1.5 assists per set better than the next closest mark achieved by Brianna Ellis of RIT (9.92 per set). Nationally, Floyd's assists per set average is third-best in the country, trailing just Lexi Wall of St. Olaf (11.69) and Carlie Craycraft of Otterbein (11.38). Floyd's 1,120 total assists are 22nd-most in the country this season; however, she has played the lowest number of sets of anyone within the Top-34 players in the country.
 
On the receiving end of many of Floyd's deliveries has been Stone, who once-again has entrenched herself as one of the dominant attacking forces in Division III Women's Volleyball this season. The reigning AVCA Second Team All-American is in the midst of another career year in headlining the Bombers potent attack. For a second straight year, Stone has eclipsed the 450-kill and 200-dig marks, entering this weekend with 474 and 204, respectively. Her total is just one kill shy of last year's single-season career best of 475 – a figure she is likely to surpass during Ithaca's NCAA Opening Round match against Morrisville State on Friday. Her other statistical totals have also remained strong, as she boasts 55.0 total blocks (six solo, 49 block assists), as well as 37 service aces. The third-year talent is set to break into the program's Top-10 in career kills already with a strong performance this weekend. She currently ranks 11th in program history with 1,327 kills, just 21 shy of tying IC Hall of Famer Bonnie McDowell for 10th on the all-time list.
 
Much like her teammate, Stone also paced the Liberty League by a fairly sizeable margin in many of the key relevant statistics. She leads the Liberty League in kills (474), kills per set (4.65), points (541.5), and points per set (5.31). Stone also ranked within the Top-10 in blocks per set with 0.54 and hitting percentage .243. Nationally, Stone also ranks inside the Top-10 in the country in several key statistics. She is fourth in the nation in kills per set (4.65), third in points per set (5.31), and 12th in total kills (474).
 
Floyd and Stone are set to lead the Bombers into NCAA Tournament play on Friday afternoon when Ithaca is set to take-on NEAC Champion Morrisville State in the Opening Round of the Potsdam, New York, Regional at 3:00 p.m.