LEXINGTON, Ky. – The American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) announced its 2024 Division III All-Region honors on Wednesday, Nov. 20, and four Gusties earned recognition, highlighted by Kasie Tweet (5th, Adrian, Minn.), who was selected as the Region 9 Player of the Year.

Tweet and Lauren Klaith (5th, Rockford, Minn.) were both first team selections for the second year in a row, while Sophia Deyak (So., Iowa City, Iowa) and Maren Sundberg (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) were named All-Region Honorable Mention. Sundberg was an AVCA All-Region First Team selection in her freshman season (2022).

All four honorees earned All-MIAC distinction on Nov. 13. Gustavus now has 20 All-Region awards and eight in the last four seasons. The Gusties were the only school in the conference with multiple players receiving AVCA honors, and the only in the region with four athletes recognized.

Tweet compiled one of the best seasons and careers in Gustavus volleyball history, which is a significant statement considering the long-standing success of setters in the program. In her fifth and final season, Tweet directed the Gustie offense with 1,096 assists – her fourth consecutive 1,000-assist season. She averaged 10.96 assists per set and 37.8 per match, both career highs for the Adrian native. She also had 24 blocks, 50 kills, 33 aces, and 267 digs, which helped her become just the third player in program history on both the assist and dig career leaderboards.

Nationally, Tweet's assists per set finished ranked fifth in Division III, while her total assists were 13th. Among active Division III setters, she ranked second with 4,632 career assists, a mark that puts her 13th in any division of NCAA volleyball players. Tweet was selected as the MIAC Athlete of the Week four times this season, and became just the second individual in conference history to earn AVCA Division III National Player of the Week twice in her career. She finished her career featured 10 different times in the Gustavus volleyball record books, and owns the ninth-most total assists by any setter in MIAC history. 

Tweet was selected as an All-Conference honoree for the third consecutive season and was named the MIAC's Offensive Player of the Year for the second year in a row. She is the second player in program history and just the third in the conference to be named the AVCA Region Player of the Year, joining Nora Holtan '19, who received the honor in 2018, and Saint Benedict's Hunter Weiss (2019). 

Klaith posted dominant numbers for an outside hitter, leading the efficient Gustie offense with a total of 411 kills in the 2024 season, averaging 3.99 kills per set and 13.7 per match. The Rockford native finished hitting .295 overall, adding 16 aces, 89 digs, 32 blocks, and a team-leading 447 points to her stat line. In conference play, Klaith's 4.26 kills and 4.80 points per set were both league-leading marks. Her efforts helped the Gusties create one of the best attacking units in the country, ranking third in NCAA DIvision III with 14.07 kills per set.

Individually, Klaith collected her 1,000th career kill against Concordia on Oct. 16, becoming just the 17th player in program history to reach the milestone, largely achieved in her last three seasons. She finished her career with 1,119 kills (2.90/set) and an attacking percentage of 0.248. Her 1,119 kills rank 12th in Gustie volleyball history, while her 411 kills this year were the fourth-most by any player in one season. She graduates owning two of the top four marks for matches with double figure kills in a season, as she totaled 27 this year and 26 in 2023, which rank third and fourth (28 is the record). She was named the MIAC Athlete of the Week three times this season, as well as earning selections to two All-Tournament teams in the Gusties' non-conference schedule.

Sundberg has been the anchor of the Gustie defense for the last three seasons, earning her second AVCA All-Region honor as a junior. She totaled 507 digs this season, becoming just the fourth player to reach 1,500 career digs in program history. The Eagan native posted some of the best serve reception numbers in the MIAC, allowing just six errors on 80 attempts. Sundberg is the 61st player in conference history to earn at least three All-Conference honors and the sixth in program history, joining Tweet, Associate Head Coach Alyssa (Taylor) Maiers '16, Nora Holtan '19, Brittany Luethmers '19, and Kate Holtan '21. She has totaled 1,691 career digs, a mark that ranks fourth in program history. 2024 Hall of Famer Emily Klein '09 holds the record with 2,329. 

Deyak collects the first AVCA recognition of her career after being selected as an All-MIAC honoree for the first time this season. The sophomore middle led the MIAC in blocks (39) and was third in both hitting percentage (.321) and points per set (4.36). Overall, Deyak compiled 303 kills on 679 attempts for a .280 efficiency, adding six assists, eight aces, 43 digs, and 94 total blocks, 55 of which were solo. She collected at least a block in all but two matches this season, and added double-digit kills in 15 of her 29 matches. 

Bethel's Peyton Howie, St. Olaf's Morgan Ryan, Saint Benedict's Audrey Spolidoro, and Augsburg's Brianna Van Well were also All-Region First Team selections. St. Catherine's Lexie Patrick joined Sundberg and Deyak as Honorable Mention honorees, while Augsburg's Ava Carlson was selected as the AVCA Region 9 Freshman of the Year.

The Gusties finished the season 20-10 overall and 11-0 in the MIAC, becoming the first conference school to compile three consecutive undefeated league records. The 2024 MIAC Regular Season Champions were upset in the second round of the conference playoffs by Saint Benedict, and were passed up for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.