KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Oklahoma City University's Sophia Salak collected a second-team NAIA all-American accolade, while Marijana Bjelobrk racked up an honorable-mention nod.
Salak's haul of 2019 honors includes American Volleyball Coaches Association second-team NAIA all-American, South Central Region player of the year, first-team all-region, Sooner Athletic Conference most valuable player, SAC Tournament MVP, first-team all-SAC and seven-time conference setter of the week. Bjelobrk became a three-time all-American.
Salak, a sophomore from McKinney, Texas, ranked sixth in the NAIA in assists per set (11.11) and assists (1,455) and ninth in aces (63). Salak produced 2.20 digs, 0.48 aces and 0.36 blocks per set. Salak had the Stars' eighth 60-assist outing in program history against Providence (Mont.) in the NAIA Championships. Salak reached 50 assists four times and 45 assists nine times this year.
Bjelobrk, a senior from Belgrade, Serbia, joined Xiaoting Ma as OCU's three-time all-Americans. Bjelobrk owns three honorable-mention all-American honors. She is a four-time all-region and four-time all-conference performer with three SAC attacker of the week awards, league hitter of the year, SAC Tournament MVP and SAC and region freshman of the year during her OCU career. Bjelobrk reeled in first-team all-SAC as well as SAC attacker of the week this season.
Bjelobrk rang up 3.06 kills, 2.39 digs, 0.67 blocks and 0.38 aces per set with a .228 hitting percentage this season. Bjelobrk turned in career bests with 19 digs at Mid-America Christian on Oct. 17 and eight blocks vs. Missouri Baptist on Aug. 15 to go with a season-high 21 kills at Southwestern Assemblies of God (Texas) on Sept. 20.
Bjelobrk's career numbers were 1,476 kills, 791 digs, 273 blocks and 65 aces in her OCU career. She owns the most kills in OCU history.
The Stars (34-4) set a school record with their .895 winning percentage, which ranked fourth in the NAIA this year. Oklahoma City matched the most victories in program history and ranked fourth nationally in wins with its fifth 30-win season, a school-record 33 consecutive victories and the SAC's 12th undefeated mark at 20-0. OCU reached the NAIA Championships for the fifth time, the round of 16 for the second instance and the national rankings for the first time in three years while sweeping the SAC regular-season and tournament championships for the fourth year in a row.