EVANSTON, Ill. – Sophomore Temi Thomas-Ailara earned 2021 First-Team All-Big Ten honors, the conference announced on Thursday.
This marks the first-career All-Big Ten honors for Thomas Ailara, who closed out the shortened season with a team-high 154 kills, 76 digs, eight aces, and 19 total blocks. It marks the second-straight season in which Thomas-Ailara led the Wildcats in kills after she recorded 398 (3.95 kills per set) as a first-year in 2019.
Competing in every set of the season, Thomas-Ailara managed to record a 3.85 kills avg/set, the fourth-highest average in the Big Ten. She also led the Wildcats with an average of 4.39 points/set, which ranked sixth among all Big Ten players.
Thomas-Ailara posted double-digit kill numbers, and led the team in kills, every match this season. She also recorded a career-high hitting percentage at .480 to open the season vs. Rutgers back in January. The outside hitter now has recorded 552 career kills, 213 digs, and 57 blocks in two seasons for the Wildcats.
The Glenwood, Ill. native becomes the first Wildcat to take home First-Team All-Big Ten honors since Symone Abbott did so as a senior in 2017. The last Northwestern's player to earn First-Team honors as a sophomore was NU's all-time kills leader, Stephanie Holthus, back in 2011.
This marks the first-career All-Big Ten honors for Thomas Ailara, who closed out the shortened season with a team-high 154 kills, 76 digs, eight aces, and 19 total blocks. It marks the second-straight season in which Thomas-Ailara led the Wildcats in kills after she recorded 398 (3.95 kills per set) as a first-year in 2019.
Competing in every set of the season, Thomas-Ailara managed to record a 3.85 kills avg/set, the fourth-highest average in the Big Ten. She also led the Wildcats with an average of 4.39 points/set, which ranked sixth among all Big Ten players.
Thomas-Ailara posted double-digit kill numbers, and led the team in kills, every match this season. She also recorded a career-high hitting percentage at .480 to open the season vs. Rutgers back in January. The outside hitter now has recorded 552 career kills, 213 digs, and 57 blocks in two seasons for the Wildcats.
The Glenwood, Ill. native becomes the first Wildcat to take home First-Team All-Big Ten honors since Symone Abbott did so as a senior in 2017. The last Northwestern's player to earn First-Team honors as a sophomore was NU's all-time kills leader, Stephanie Holthus, back in 2011.