Dakota Wesleyan University Women's Volleyball

Wilber returns a strong core of players in 2016, bolstered by a deep recruiting class. The Tigers opened the 2016 season 6-1 in non conference play, finishing the season with 11 wins, the most for DWU since 2009. The team looks to break through in the Great Plains Athletic Conference this season and contend in one of the premier volleyball conferences in the NAIA. Lauren Tadlock returns at the head of a group of six senior players for DWU in 2016. Tadlock became the first DWU player to make the All-GPAC First or Second Team since 2009, with a second team nod in 2015 following a breakout season. Tadlock closed the 2015 season with 436 kills, 3.86 kills per set, along with 255 digs and 45 total blocks as she played all six positions on the court for DWU. She ranked second in the GPAC in kills per set. The Tiger also return setter Michelle Van Epps, a 2014 All-GPAC Honorable Mention. Van Epps ranks fifth on the DWU all-time assists list with 2,020 in two seasons as the Tiger starter. She finished the 2015 season sixth in GPAC in assists per set. Other top returners for DWU include Taylor Spence, Dana Misiaszek, Marissa Soderberg and Shelbie Budmayr, all having significant experience on the front line for DWU. The Tigers earned three All-GPAC honors, two NAIA Scholar Athlete awards and NAIA Scholar Team recognition in 2015. The Tiger volleyball team has been named an NAIA Scholar Team in both seasons under Wilber, finishing 2015-16 with a combined GPA of 3.62, second best by any team at the school. Wilber, a Lakefield, Minn., native, worked as the Sioux Falls South 17u club coach in Sioux Falls, S.D., prior to joining DWU. She also founded and directed the TIBBS Volleyball Academy in Sioux Falls from 2010-12 and worked with up to 300 volleyball players annually on skill development. Wilber also was a varsity assistant at Sioux Falls OGorman High School from 2002-05, and worked as the club director and a coach for the Sioux Falls South team from 2003-06. Wilber played college volleyball at Augustana College in Sioux Falls from 1997-2000. She earned AVCA All-American First Team honors in 1999 and 2000 and second team All-American honors as a sophomore in 1998. She was All-North Central Conference and All-North Central Region selection three years in a row, and was named a Successful Farming All-American and a Lutheran Brotherhood All-American in 2000. She was part of the NCAA Division II national runner-up team in 2000, and is still second in kills, third in total attacks, fifth in digs and eighth in service aces for a career at Augustana. Wilber lives in Mitchell with her husband, Matt, the head mens basketball coach at DWU. They have four sons: twins A.J. and Ben, Nathan and Tyson.