Kashauna Williams Earns AVCA All-American Honorable Mention

Posted on by Ethan Kasales

Penn State women’s volleyball outside hitter Kashauna Williams earned AVCA All-American honorable mention Wednesday after leading the Nittany Lions with 416 kills this season.

Williams, a grad transfer from Long Beach State who arrived at Penn State this summer, was one of the Big Ten’s most exciting players in 2022. She was named first-team All-Big Ten alongside teammate Allie Holland, a junior middle blocker for the Nittany Lions. Williams added 68 total blocks, 56 digs, seven assists, and three aces this fall.

Williams, who hails from Los Angeles, California, was also selected to the AVCA all-northeast region team with Holland and setter Seleisa Elisaia. They were key contributors to Penn State’s success in Katie Schumacher-Cawley’s first season as head coach, leading the Nittany Lions to their 34th appearance in the Sweet 16.

Williams was among 53 players who collected All-American honorable mention this season. She was the only Nittany Lion to be recognized Wednesday by the AVCA. Eleven Division I coaches were tasked with selecting this year’s All-Americans, which also included 14 players on each of the three teams. Oregon’s Mimi Colyer was named AVCA National Freshman of the Year.

Former Penn State volleyball players Gabby Blossom and Serena Gray, who transferred to San Diego and Pitt, respectively, received first-team All-American honors after leading their teams to the Final Four in Omaha, Nebraska. Minnesota’s Taylor Landfair, the Big Ten Player of the Year, was surprisingly the only representative from the conference on this year’s first team.

Texas led the way with three players on the first team in Logan Eggleston, Asjia O’Neal, and Zoe Fleck, while Pitt had Gray and Courtney Buzzerio, and Stanford had Kami Miner and Kendall Kipp. Penn State played against five of this year’s 14 first-team All-Americans during a 26-8 season, including UCF’s McKenna Melville.

Although she only started 12 of the 33 matches she played in this season, Williams quickly became the focal point of Penn State’s offensive attack, leading a unit that could rely on several different contributors. Williams’ mentorship of outside hitter Alexa Markley assisted the freshman in becoming one of the team’s most prolific attackers during the second half of the season.

“I call Alexa my twin,” Williams said on November 22. “We literally call each other twins. I don’t know, something about her and the way she plays kind of reminds me of myself when I was a freshman. She jumps really high, she’s aggressive, she’s big. She just brings great energy on the court. I love her as a teammate.”

Following Penn State’s crucial 3-1 win over Minnesota on November 18 at Rec Hall, which went a long way in eventually allowing the Nittany Lions to host opening weekend of the NCAA tournament, junior libero Maddy Bilinovic discussed Williams’ impact on the team.

“Kash is insane,” Bilinovic said. “You can’t dig Kash. You can’t read Kash. You put the ball high to Kash and she’ll get her kills. I’m super proud of her. I think that her energy and what she brings to this team is unmatched. I think that there’s no one like Kash, Kash money.”

Williams was among 38 players selected to last summer’s U.S. women’s collegiate national team, which trained June 19-25 in Anaheim, California. It provided an opportunity for Williams to match up against some of the elite players in her age group from various teams around the country.

“Being with a couple of the best volleyball players in the country, it felt really good to be around that atmosphere,” Williams said. “I feel like it was a great experience being coached by the Olympic coaches. Overall, the intensity of the practices just had me so hype for Penn State, because we hadn’t started the season yet. It was really exciting. I was happy to be there.”

Williams finished her college career with 1,597 kills. She surpassed 400 kills in each of her final three seasons, including 443 in 2019 and 452 in 2021. Long Beach State and its fellow Big West programs did not play a 2020 season due to COVID-19. Williams certainly has the skills to continue her playing career at the professional level if she so chooses.

During a press conference on September 6, Williams discussed what stood out about Schumacher-Cawley and her staff’s message to her during the recruiting process this offseason, after Williams entered the transfer portal. It’s safe to say the move worked out well for both Williams and Penn State.

“They recruited me in 10th grade, so when they hit me up again at this time in my life, for the second time, I just felt like there was a pull,” Williams said. “They’re just really nice, and it felt like they genuinely cared. … That’s what pulled me toward Penn State instead of other teams.”