Youngstown State sophomore outside hitter Paula Gursching has been voted to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Northeast Region Team, the organization announced Tuesday.
Gursching is the first YSU volleyball student-athlete to earn All-Region accolades since 2009, adding another impressive bullet point to her resume that already included being named the Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and All-League First Team by the Horizon League in 2022.
"This is another well-deserved honor for Paula," said YSU head coach Aline Scott. "This is a recognition of her hard work, diligence and love for the game. I'm happy for Paula and excited about what the future holds for her."
Gursching finished the regular season ranking in the top five in the country in total kills (576), points (646.0) and attacks (1,412), and she was named the Horizon League Player of the Week a record-tying six times. Even with her last match coming on Nov. 18, Gursching still ranks fourth nationally in total kills, and she's fifth in total points. The Schwalbach am Taunus, Germany, native ranks third in kills per set (5.24) and points per set (5.87), and she is fourth in attacks per set (12.84).
She set numerous school and conference records during the season and became the fastest player in YSU history to reach 1,000 career kills. Her school records include kills in a season (576), attempts in a season (1,412), points in a season (646.0), kills in a 3-set match (21), kills in a 4-set match (31), kills in a 5-set match (35), attempts in a 4-set match (70), attempts in a 5-set match (87), points in a 4-set match (24.0), and points in a 5-set match (36.5). She set Horizon League records for kills in a season during the 25-point rally-scoring era, and her 35 kills at Northern Kentucky were the most ever in a 25-point rally-scoring match.
Ruth Boscaljon is the only other Penguin to earn All-Region accolades from the AVCA. She was named to the Honorable Mention group in 2009 in the Midwest Region.
The Northeast Region is comprised of 35 schools from across the Big 10 Conference, Horizon League, Ivy League, Mid-American Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Northeast Conference and Patriot League. There are teams from Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin included.
