BALTIMORE – Notre Dame of Maryland University junior Gabbi Taganas was recognized as First-Team All-CSAC hitter while teammates Angel Carino, Emma Mueller, and Natalie Newton were named to the 2021 Second-Team All-CSAC as announced by the league office on Tuesday. 

Taganas was a force for the Gators at the net.  On the defensive end, she provided timely resistance from the Gators defensive bunch. Taganas ended the year with 30 blocks, averaging .40 per set. Many of her blocks led to momentum shifts in many of Notre Dame's wins. When the Notre Dame attack needed a run, Taganas regularly answered the call showing aggression while remaining precise with her hits. The hitter ended the season amongst CSAC leaders with 152 kills for fifth-most in the conference. 

Carino was awarded the Second-Team All-CSAC libero spot and named to the 2021 CSAC All-Sportsmanship team. Carino led the stingiest defense in the conference. The Gators held their opponents to a .087 hitting percentage as Carino captained a line of defensive specialists who all placed top-10 amongst the league leaders in digs. She finished the season second in the CSAC in digs and digs per set. 

Mueller was a vocal leader for the Gators on the court as her play on all levels of the court spoke for itself. The freshman tallied 145 points and was named to the CSAC Weekly Honor Roll two times. She just missed the century mark for kills but came close to completing a 100 assists, 100 kills, and 100 digs feat. Mueller compiled 282 assists, 137 digs, 98 kills, 17 blocks, and a team-high 38 aces. She had four games in which she crossed the 20-assists mark. 

Like Mueller, Newton excelled all season creating for her teammates. Newton led Notre Dame with 291 assists and created her own offense when the Gators needed it the most. Newton was just one the team lead with 37 service aces. During the season, Newton went on an eight-game stretch where she had 12 or more assists. The setter had double-digit assists in 16 matches. She added 146 digs to back the Gators defense. 


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Notre Dame (Md.) clinched the two seed in the CSAC playoffs and will host a semifinal match on Thursday at 7 p.m. Watch on the Gators Network and follow live stats at Notredamegators.com.