The 2012 All-Midwest Conference volleyball teams were released Wednesday and three Foresters made the list. Seniors Molly McCloskey and Tia Rupnik were named First Team All-MWC while classmate Cori Cooper was a Second Team selection.
McCloskey, an outside hitter, made the First Team after earning Second Team All-MWC honors in 2011. She leads the league and ranks 17th in the nation with 4.04 kills per set. She is also second in the conference and 29th in the country with 4.49 points per set. Her 372 kills on the year rank 10th in program history and she was second on the team with 344 digs. She reached double figures in both categories in 17 of 27 matches. McCloskey finished her career ranked sixth in team history with 1,254 kills and eighth with 1,257 digs. She is one of just four players in school history to record at least 1,000 kills and digs in her career.
Rupnik, a libero, earned First Team All-MWC honors for the third consecutive year. She led the Foresters with 471 digs and ranked fifth in the conference with 4.96 digs per set. She also committed just 28 receiving errors in 510 attempts (.945). Rupnik recorded at least 10 digs in all but five matches on the season and in 76 of 87 contests in her three years on the team. Despite transferring to Lake Forest prior to her sophomore season, she finished her career ranked third in program history with 1,547 career digs.
Cooper, an outside hitter, was a First Team All-MWC selection in 2011 after being named to the Second Team as a freshman and sophomore. She earned Second Team honors again this season after being limited to front row play due to injury. She still finished second on the team with 235 kills and posted the seventh-highest hitting percentage in the MWC at .242. She finished her career ranked fifth in team history with 1,258 kills and 10th with 1,015 digs and joined McCloskey in the program's four-member 1,000-kill/1,000-dig club. Cooper is one of just five volleyball players in school history to earn all-conference honors (first or second team) four times in her career.
Lake Forest finished the 2012 season with an overall record of 17-10 and earned the #3 seed in the four-team MWC Tournament with a league mark of 7-3.
