LEXINGTON, Ky. – After completing one of the most successful seasons in program history, junior outside hitter Hannah Focker from the Mid-America Christian volleyball team was selected as an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) NCCAA Division I All-American on Monday.
Focker garnered All-NCCAA Second Team honors after leading the MACU to its first appearance at the NCCAA National Championships since 2004 and its first ever appearance at the Division I level since moving up in 2007.
The Sudlohn, Germany native reached several major program milestones during the 2019 campaign, recording a single season program record 3.95 kills per set while setting the third-best single season marks in kills (371), points (432.5) and service aces (48).
In her first season at Mid-America Christian, the St. John Fisher College transfer made her presence felt immediately in the MACU lineup. In her first match wearing an Evangels uniform, Focker tied Christiane Smith's single match kills record of 27 against Huston-Tillotson at the SAC/RRAC Crossover hosted by Oklahoma City University on Aug. 27. Focker broke the record later in the season, becoming the first player in MACU history to ever record 30 kills in a match at Southwestern Christian on Oct. 19.
The powerful outside hitter recorded 20 or more kills four times over the course of the season, tying Smith for the most 20 or more kill matches in MACU history and became the first to do so four times in one season.
In her final match of the season against Piedmont International in the final match of pool play at the NCCAA National Championships on Dec. 6, Focker recorded the fourth-most single match service aces in MACU history, tallying seven aces to lead the Evangels to their first NCCAA National Championship Tournament win since defeating Johnson Bible College on Nov. 7, 2003. The Evangels swept the Bruins in straight sets (25-15, 25-11, 25-23).
Focker is just the third recipient of NCCAA Division I All-America honor at Mid-America Christian, as Christiane Smith was the last Evangel to be named an All-American following the 2010 season. Smith received NCCAA Second Team All-American honors twice in her two seasons with the Evangels.
Overall, Focker became the 15th NCCAA All-American at Mid-America Christian in the history of the program in either the Division I or Division II level with the first recipient being Carrie Hoesch after the 1996 season.
The All-American award is the second honor Focker has received this season after earning Sooner Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year and All-SAC Second Team honors. Focker led the Evangels to their best ever finish in SAC play, placing fifth with a 12-8 conference record.
