GALESBURG, Ill. — The College Sports Communicators announced its Academic All-District Teams for women's volleyball across each of the NCAA Divisions and NAIA, and Knox College had three players earn recognition for Division III in senior Sam Black, junior Lydia Karli and sophomore Maria Jabor Jahn.
A neuroscience major from Willowbrook, Illinois, Black was a libero and defensive specialist for the Prairie Fire, leading the team in digs per set (3.54, seventh in the Midwest Conference) with a total of 287 on the season, plus ranked second in service aces with 16. In a five-set road victory at Rockford this fall, she racked up a career-high 46 digs, the fifth-most ever by a Knox player in a single match, earning Knox Female Athlete of the Week honors for her defensive prowess. Black is also a two-time Academic All-Midwest Conference selection.
Karli, a biology and environmental science major from Austin, Texas, received this honor for the second straight year. The starting middle blocker in every match for the Prairie Fire this past fall, she led the team in attack percentage, finished second in blocks and ranked fourth in kills. An Academic All-Midwest Conference selection last year, Karli played a big role in a four-set win over Beloit, producing a season-high eight kills.
Jabor Jahn is a 6-2 right-side player from Florianópolis, Brazil, majoring in biology who led the team with 203.5 points and 32 blocks. Five times she piled up double-digit kills in a match, including a career-high 14 against Westminster College (Mo.), followed by 13 more the next match at Eureka College. She also had a dozen kills in the win over Rockford and 10 more two days later in a sweep of Principia. An Academic All-Midwest Conference selection as a first-year in 2024-25, she posted six blocks against Ripon, another personal best.
To be considered for Academic All-District honors, a soccer player must be in at least a sophomore academically and athletically, have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and have played in at least 90 percent of their team's games or started at least 66 percent of the contests.
