Gillen and Head Earn AVCA All-South Region Team Honors

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Sophomore Jillian Gillen and freshman Taylor Head added another pair of honors to their already impressive 2020-21 resumes with identical AVCA All-South Region Team Honors, announced by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on Tuesday.

The recognition comes just over a week after the duo garnered All-SEC honors. Gillen was named SEC Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-SEC while Head was named SEC Freshman of the Year and placed on the All-SEC Freshman Team.

This season, Head led Arkansas to six, weekend sweeps of conference opponents, including the Hogs exhilarating sweep of then-No. 14 Texas A&M in the fall. She finished her rookie campaign as a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week honoree and the league leader in double-doubles with a notable 13. Head notched 17 double-digit dig performances, consistently contributing to Arkansas’ .219 hitting percentage, which is the most efficient hitting percentage for the Hogs since 2017.

Alongside Head was Gillen, who also played a crucial part in Arkansas’ success this season. Gillen was seventh in the NCAA in total service aces, earning at least one in 17 of 22 matches. She added to the Razorbacks’ 1.58 service aces per set this season, which is the best since 2003 and the fourth-best all-time in program history. Gillen also landed in the top-five in the SEC for service aces per set, kills per set and points per set and finished the year with a pair of SEC Player of the Week honors and SEC Offensive Player of the Week awards.

The AVCA women’s volleyball postseason awards program is in its 39th year. The AVCA is proud to honor deserving student-athletes annually by selecting All-Region (one 14-person team and six honorable mention student-athletes per region) and All-America teams (14 student-athletes per first, second and third team).

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