Courtney Lowers produced a sensational junior season on the volleyball court for Randolph-Macon College, placing her among the best players not only in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference but also in the entire nation at the NCAA Division III level.

Few things seem to happen on the court that catch the former Nansemond River High School standout off guard, but she did not anticipate the parade of accolades that would come to her because of that.

First, Lowers received the title of ODAC Player of the Year.

“I was actually very surprised,” she said, noting an honor like this typically goes to seniors, not juniors. “I couldn’t have done it without my team being there, pushing me the whole way.”

A survey of her statistics make it clear why she was chosen for the honor, but Lowers is not consumed with numbers.

“I actually don’t really look at statistics much,” she said. “I just go out and play.”

And the Yellow Jackets benefited as she led the conference with 492 kills, the third-highest total in conference history. She also topped the conference in average kills per set (4.6), points (552.5) and average points per set (5.17).

Lowers was second on her team with 324 digs, averaging 3.03 per set.

“I did better than I thought I would do this season,” she said.

Second, she was named to the All-South Region Team by the American Volleyball Coaches Association. After that, the AVCA also named her to the All-America Honorable Mention Team.

Randolph-Macon won the regular season in the ODAC, going 10-1 against conference opponents, but saw its season end when it fell in the ODAC tournament semifinals.

Due to the team’s early postseason exit, Lowers was most shocked to receive the All-America recognition.

But Yellow Jackets coach Bill Rogers was not surprised by the acclaim Lowers has accrued.

“Courtney’s a great player, and we expected her to have quite a few awards,” he said. “She was on the all-tournament team for every tournament we played in this year, so we were expecting great things. I was hoping that she’d get more than (All-America) Honorable Mention. She had the statistics to get more than Honorable Mention.”

Her average of 4.6 kills per set ended up being ranked fifth in the nation among all NCAA Division III players.

Rogers highlighted an extraordinary performance of Lowers’ during a 3-2 win over Randolph College in which she produced 34 kills.

“She’s an awesome player; I wish I could clone her,” he said.

He also drew special attention to her points, a statistical category which refers to ways she generates points for her team like with a serving ace, block or kill. Her 5.17 points per set average ranked eighth in the nation.

“She out-pointed the other team’s best player in 30 out of 31 matches this year,” Rogers said.

Considering how she was able to grow as a player this year, Lowers said she worked out a lot more this summer than in years past and was also regularly gathering with players to log offseason playing time.

She also thought her growth came along with the new position she has been in this year.

“I was moved from right side to outside,” she said. “By having this position, I have learned to hit the ball in different ways and become more effective.”

She noted all of her coaches helped her expand her abilities. Rogers taught her several different hitting techniques, and among the assistant coaches, April Hines helped her with blocking, Savanna Love helped with defense and reading opponents’ serves and Jared Horrigan helped with passing and defense.

“It’s all flowed together, I guess you could say,” Lowers said.