LEXINGTON, Ky. – As the No. 21 Washington University in St. Louis volleyball team prepares to travel to Oshkosh, Wis., three members of the WashU program have been named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Region team, as announced by the organization today.

Senior Sam Buckley, junior Ellie Laird, and junior Leah Oyewole were all named to the First Team All-Region VIII.

Buckley, who was named a First Team All-UAA earlier this week, started the year sixth all-time in assists and not only set the new team record for career assists but also became the only player to break the 5,000 assists mark. This season, Buckley has played in every match, totaling 116 sets. Heading into the NCAA Tournament, she has dished out 1,257 assists while adding 236 digs. Her 10 double-doubles lead the team this season. She leads the UAA in assists by more than 400 and has recorded the seven most assists in a match contest this season in the conference. She was named to the Papa John's Invitational All-Tournament team earlier this season while also earning the UAA Defensive/Setter of the Week twice (9/22 and 10/27).

After earning her first career All-UAA honors earlier this week, Laird earns her first All-Region honors. She has played in all 116 sets and has reached double-figure digs in all but one of WashU's 30 matches, totaling 589 digs. She ranks first in the conference in both total digs (589) and digs per set (5.08). She was the UAA Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 8.

This season, Oyewole became the newest member of the 1,000 career kills club in the match at Millikin. She leads the team and the UAA in kills this season (422) while ranking fourth in the conference in points (437.0). She joined Buckley on the Papa John's Invitational All-Tournament team while also earning UAA Offensive Player of the Week honors three times this season (9/2, 10/6, 10/27).

WashU will travel to Wis.-Oshkosh this weekend for an NCAA Regional, taking on the College of Saint Benedict in the first round on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 11:30 a.m. The winner will face the winner of Dubuque/Cornell College on Friday, Nov. 21 at 4:30 p.m. in the second round.

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