Kavalauskas receives All-America honorable mention
Jill Kavalauskas joined a select group as she received NAIA All-America honorable mention Friday. She is just the fifth St. Ambrose women's volleyball player to receive multiple All-America accolades and the first since Amanda Ziegeweid did so for the second straight year in 1999. Kavalauskas also received honorable mention following the 2020-21 season.
Earlier this week, she was named to the 2022 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Mideast Region Team.
The 2022 campaign was a history-making season for Kavalauskas and the Bees. The senior outside hitter from Chicago recorded 406 kills this season, becoming just the 10th Fighting Bee to top 400 kills in a year since 2000, and she did so while hitting at a .225 clip. Her 406 kills were fourth-most in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) and her hitting percentage was the sixth-best mark in the league. She also totaled 44 aces, 238 digs and 43 total blocks to earn first team all-CCAC honors for the third time. Kavalauskas is the first SAU player to be named first team all-conference three times since 2012.
She led St. Ambrose to a second-place CCAC finish and an automatic bid to the NAIA Championship Opening Round, the program's first appearance since 2010. The team finished 24-10 overall, recording the most wins in a season since the 2011 team won 25 matches.
Kavalauskas ended her four-year Bee career with 1302 kills, tied for the third most in program history.