LA MIRADA, Calif. ---- The American Volleyball Coaches Association released its annual list of NAIA regional awards on Thursday, and Biola featured four players and its head coach on the list of honors.
 
Head Coach Aaron Seltzer led the way as the Southwest Region Coach of the Year after leading Biola to an eighth-consecutive NAIA National Championship Tournament appearance. He has Biola at a 31-4 overall record headed into the NAIA Quarterfinals for a fifth-straight season.
 
Amy Weststeyn claimed another individual honor as the AVCA named her the Southwest Region Player of the Year and placed her at the top of the all-region team for the fourth time. Weststeyn is the only player in the nation to be featured on this list each of the last four seasons.
 
Joclyn Kirton earned a spot on the list for the second consecutive year, and Alyssa Mason and Lauren Hoenecke each earned the honor for the first time in their career.
 
Kirton is in the midst of a great year, capped by what has been an impressive run through the first three games of the NAIA tournament. The junior outside hitter has 29 kills and 9.5 blocks through the Eagles' first three games at the national level, helping them lead the tournament in blocks.
 
Mason and Weststeyn have been the Eagles' primary attacking options through the entire season, but are especially making their presence felt at this tournament, posting numbers that make them among the top three or four players at the event.
 
The duo combine for 85 kills in the three matches of pool play and have hit at least .341 throughout the competition.
 
Hoenecke was rewarded for her efforts in the most successful season of her three years on the Biola roster with an All-GSAC nod and now this all-region award.
 
The junior appeared in nearly seven times her previous career-high number of sets this season and made sure it was an investment well spent by Seltzer. The middle blocker is at 213 kills and has been incredibly efficient despite still not being on the court with much consistency. She has a cumulative attacking percentage of .312 on the year and has also tacked on 99 total blocks, so far.
 
All five of these honorees still have at least one more day of play, hopefully two, as they finish up the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa.