Taylor Austin of Ashburn Honored as ECAC Defensive Player of the Year

2016 Dec 1

The Eastern College Athletic Conference released its 2016 Division I Volleyball All-Star team and James Madison's Taylor Austin of Ashburn was honored as Defensive Player of the Year and recieved First Team accolades.

The honor is the second major awards for Austin this season as she was selected as Colonial Athletic Association Defensive Specialist of the Year earlier this month and comes off the heels of James Madison winning the CAA Championship title and earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.

Austin has proven to be one of the nation's top defensive players as the junior leads the league and ranks second in Division I with a 5.92 digs per set average, the third-highest, single-season average in JMU history. Her league-leading 663 kills ranks fifth in the country and is the second-most tallied by Duke over a season.

The Ashburn, Va. native has garnered double-digit digs in all 30 of her appearances and has tallied at least 20 digs in 16 matches with six outings of 30 or more digs. Recording her 1,000th career dig earlier this year, the junior has become just one of three Dukes in program history with at least 1,500 digs over a career, ranking third in school history with 1,530 digs. Austin also holds the second-best digs per set average over a career with a 4.86 mark.

James Madison begins its NCAA Tournament run on Friday, Dec. 2 when the Dukes face Coastal Carolina at 4:30 p.m. inside Carmichael Arena at Chapel Hill, N.C. in first round action. The Dukes are 21-10 overall this season and bring a 10-match win streak into Friday's match.