Mattson Wins Elite 20 Award at MWC Volleyball Tournament
MONMOUTH, Ill. (11/11/2026) — Monmouth College junior Tyla Mattson (Morton, Illinois) was honored with the Elite 20 Award for volleyball before the Fighting Scots Midwest Conference tournament game against Illinois College on Tuesday. This is Monmouth's first Elite 20 Award in volleyball since Karlie Drish won in 2021.
Each year, the Midwest Conference recognizes the student-athlete, with the highest cumulative grade point average, participating in his or her respective sport's culminating championship or tournament event. The award recognizes the commitment of the student-athlete toward the pursuit of excellence in both the athletic and academic realms as measured by reaching the pinnacle of competition within the league, while also achieving the highest academic standard among peers.
Mattson, an exercise science major with a 4.0 GPA, returned from ACL surgery this season after missing a year of action. She appeared in all 25 regular season games but injured her knee last Monday in the regular-season finale and was not available Tuesday night. On the season she handed out 300 assists at 3.61 per set while adding 12 kills. Mattson served 11 aces and ranks third on the team with 184 digs at 2.22 per set. In two seasons on the court, Mattson has 930 assists for the Fighting Scots and 44 aces.
Last year the Scots won two Elite 20 awards with Turner Plumer in men's basketball and football kicker Mylee Hansen (Pekin, Illinois) claiming the awards from the MWC.