The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) has seen five of its members recognized in the 2025 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Region 8 awards. The honorees include Kristina Manojlovic from Carthage, and Alex Bardouniotis and Taylor French from Illinois Wesleyan, who were all named to the First Team.
Illinois Wesleyan’s Hannah Tellor was awarded an Honorable Mention. Kim Nelson-Brown, head coach at Illinois Wesleyan, was named AVCA Region VIII Coach of the Year.
Each of the ten AVCA regions selects 14 All-Region team members and six honorable mentions. In addition, each region names a Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, and Coach of the Year. This year’s All-Region list includes 200 student-athletes representing 96 schools.
Manojlovic earned First Team All-Region VIII honors after also being selected for First Team All-CCIW. She led the CCIW with 482 kills—sixth nationally—and ranked third in total attacks with 1,315 and seventh in total points with 540.5. She also recorded 286 digs and 53 blocks.
Bardouniotis received her first career all-region honor as a First Team selection. She was twice named CCIW Hitter of the Week and is a First Team All-CCIW honoree. Bardouniotis ranked second on her team in both kills (286; averaging 3.01 per set) and digs (299; averaging 3.15 per set), while adding 46 aces and 26 blocks during the season.
French achieved her fourth all-region honor, becoming only the second player in program history to do so for Illinois Wesleyan. She is a three-time CCIW Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year and led her team with 392 kills (4.13 per set), ranking her 24th nationally. French averaged 5.01 points per set (14th in Division III), holds her program’s record for career aces, added another 70 this season (24th nationally), and was named AVCA National Player of the Week on November 4.
Tellor received an Honorable Mention for Region VIII—her first all-region recognition—and is a two-time First Team All-CCIW performer. She led her team with 62 blocks (0.65 per set) while contributing 196 kills on a .310 hitting percentage, surpassing her milestone of over 1,000 career kills during an October match against WashU.
Nelson-Brown earned AVCA Region VIII Coach of the Year honors for a second time; she previously won in 2015. Under her leadership this season, Illinois Wesleyan posted a record of 26 wins to just two losses entering NCAA Tournament play—the best start in program history with thirteen consecutive victories—and completed an undefeated run through both conference regular season play and tournament competition while hosting an NCAA Regional event.
“Kristina Manojlovic added First Team All-Region VIII honors to a decorated 2025 campaign after also earning First Team All-CCIW status.”
“Bardouniotis earned her first career all-region accolade as a First Team All-Region VIII selection.”
“French captured her fourth all-region honor, becoming just the second Titan in program history to reach that milestone.”
“Tellor received her first career all-region honor with a Region VIII Honorable Mention selection.”
“Nelson-Brown was named AVCA Region VIII Coach of the Year for the second time in her career.”
