Watters and Haubert receive All-Heart honors for 2024 performances

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Following the conclusion of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Women's Volleyball Tournament last Saturday, the conference announced the All-Heart Teams on Tuesday afternoon with Clarke University outside hitters Maya Watters and Rachel Haubert earning spots on the All-Conference Teams for 2024.

Both Haubert and Watters were the primary outside hitters opposite of each other's rotation on the season where Watters earned All-Heart Second Team in her sophomore campaign with Haubert being named All-Heart Third Team to close out her collegiate career with her highest All-Conference placement in her four years at Clarke.

Watters, a Dubuque native, finished as the team's leader in kills with 383 kills on 934 attempts for a .219 hitting percentage playing in 105 sets over 30 matches to also produce 58 digs and 27 total blocks in her first season starting for CU. Her 383 kills was good for third-best total in the conference while just missing out on a top-10 season in Clarke women's volleyball history while her 3.65 kills per set mark also ranked third in the Heart while finishing tied for fifth all-time in Pride history. 

The Dubuque Senior High School product consistently finished with highest kill total on the team in most matches while recording double digit kills in all but eight of the 30 matches she played in while boasting a 24-kill performance on Sept. 27 in a 3-2 win over Graceland to tie the second-best kill total in a five set match in program history, which would also lead to her first Heart Attacker of the Week honor on Sept. 30, then one-upped herself on Oct. 22 against Grand View with a 25-kill performance in a 3-2 loss to the Vikings to stand along with the second-best kill total in a match and in school history.

Haubert, a native of Plainfield, Ill., closed out her four-year career at Clarke with the best season in those four years with the second-best kill total on the team at 298, 123 kills better than her previous best season, while finishing second on the team in digs with 352 digs as the Pride's one true six-rotation player in the lineup in 2024.

Not missing a single match in the 32-match 2024 season for CU, Haubert finished with either double digit kills or double digit digs in 20 matches including a team-high 14 double-doubles on the year as she also finished the season with a .180 hitting percentage with the most attempts on the team and 39 total blocks for the fifth-best mark on the Pride.

Full Heart Story: https://heartofamericaconference.com/sports/wvball/2024-25/releases/20241119o0jcmk

Watters will highlight a significant returning group for Clarke women's volleyball that finished the 2024 season with a 12-20 record, their most wins since 2021, but finished short of Heart Tournament qualification with their sixth place finish in the Heart North Division.