ROCHESTER, N.Y. – RIT senior outside hitter Katie Hobler was named an American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III Third-Team All-American while senior outside hitter Taylor Higgins and freshman setter Sydney Neff landed Honorable-Mention status, announced Tuesday.
 
Thirteen players have now won 23 All-America citations in program history. Hobler also garnered third-team recognition in 2018 and is now the Tigers' sixth multiple-time honoree.
 
Hobler was recently named the AVCA Region III and Liberty League Player of the Year while landing first-team all-region and All-Liberty League for the third time. She finished the season ranked 13th nationally with 4.18 kills per set and 19th with 422 total kills while leading the Liberty League with a .306 hitting percentage. Hobler also ranks 10th in the conference with 0.56 blocks per set. She compiled double-digit kill totals in all but three matches this fall, including a season-high 22 versus St. Lawrence in the Liberty League Semifinals (Nov. 5) as well as 21 on a .420 hitting percentage in the Tigers' 3-2 victory opposite St. John Fisher (Oct. 15). She also collected 21 kills to go with 11 digs and four blocks in RIT's 3-2 victory over Clarkson (Sept. 24).
 
Higgins was named a first-team all-region pick last week after garnering honorable-mention honors in 2019. She also landed her fourth career All-Liberty League honor, including first-team plaudits in 2021 and 2019. Higgins finished third in the conference with 3.33 kills per set and is eighth with a .241 hitting percentage as well as ninth with 0.45 service aces per set. Totaling double-digit kills on 17 occasions, she put down a season-high 22 kills on a .400 hitting percentage in the 3-1 win at Cortland (Oct. 19). Higgins also notched 16 kills and 14 digs in the Tigers' NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal setback to Wesleyan on her way to All-Tournament Team recognition.
 
Neff finished the season 10th nationally and first in the Liberty League with 10.58 assists per set while guiding the Tigers to 11th nationally with a .250 team hitting percentage. She also ranked second in the conference with 889 total assists, including at least 30 assists in 18 of the 26 matches she appeared. Neff totaled a season-high 59 assists in the Clarkson victory and also had 52 assists along with 12 digs opposite St. John Fisher. She also totaled a three-set season-high 42 assists along with seven digs and four service aces in the Tigers' 3-0 sweep of Framingham State in the NCAA Tournament opener.
 
RIT (25-5) finished with an unbeaten 7-0 Liberty League for the first time in program history before receiving an at-large bid to the program's 12th NCAA Division III Tournament. Seeded first in the region and awarded one of the tournament's eight Regional Championship sites, the Tigers defeated Framingham State in last Friday's opening round before falling to Wesleyan in Saturday's second round.