INDIANAPOLIS -- Valparaiso sophomore Emily Campbell and UIC junior Stephenee Yancy have been named the Horizon League Volleyball Co-Players of the Year in voting of the League’s coaches.
Also collecting individual accolades were Oakland’s Taylor Humm, who was named Defensive Player of the Year, Youngstown State’s Val Jeffery as the inaugural winner of Setter of the Year and UIC’s Nicole Johnson who collected Freshman of the Year honors.
Oakland coach Rob Beam who was named Coach of the Year after leading the Golden Grizzlies to the regular season title in just their second season in the conference.
Campbell and Yancy were at the top of the League leaderboard in kills this season as Yancy finished with 501 kills (4.39/set) and Campbell finished with 457 kills (4.35/set). The two players stepped up their averages in League-play as Yancy averaged 4.84 kills per set and Campbell averaged in 4.43 kills per set in 14 conference matches. Yancy also led the conference in hitting percentage in League-play, hitting an efficient .385.
Both players also ranked highly in defensive categories as Yancy ranked third in League-play in blocks, averaging 1.22 per set, while Campbell ranked ninth in digs with an average of 3.49 per set.
Humm won Defensive Player of the Year accolades after ranking among League leaders in digs. The senior started her career as an outside hitter, but made the transition to libero as a junior and flourished as a senior, ranking third in the Horizon League with an average of 5.07 digs per contest.
Jeffery is the first Setter of the Year recipient in conference history. The award was proposed by the conference’s eight head coaches and approved by the League’s Executive Council in October. Jeffery averaged 10.30 assists per set in conference play.
Johnson won Freshman of the Year honors after ranking second in League-play with an average of 11.68 assists per set. She paced the conference overall with 1,327 assists in 30 regular season matches.
Oakland, the regular season champion with a 12-2 League mark, placed three players on the All-League team. Humm was joined by junior outside hitter Cassie Pelloni (team-best 326 kills) and freshman middle hitter Sammy Condon (232 kills on a .289 hitting percentage).
Milwaukee, the defending Tournament Champion and second-seed in this year’s championship, had two players make the All-League squad. Senior outside hitter Julie Kolinske (team-best 414 kills) and junior setter Kayla Price (League-best 12.33 assists/set in League play) both made the All-League team for the second time in their career.
The third-seed Crusaders placed three players on the All-League team. Campbell, senior Kelsey Victor (League-best .385 hitting percentage in conference) and junior setter Kelsey Berrington (11.32 assists/set in conference) all represented Valparaiso.
Youngstown State, the number four seed, had and senior outside hitter Lexi Egler (346 kills & 313 digs) on the All-Conference team.
Sophomore outside hitter Grace Kauth (158 kills in League play) and senior middle hitter Maggie Hannon (.304 attack percentage) represented the fifth-seed Vikings on the All-League team.
The All-League team was rounded out by Yancy and Johnson from UIC.
Johnson headlined the All-Freshman team and was joined on the squad by fellow All-League honoree Condon. Also making the squad was Valparaiso’s Allison Ketcham (4.29 digs per set in League play), Youngstown State’s Sam Brown (275 kills and 237 digs), Valparaiso’s Taylor Graboski (192 kills on a .264 hitting percentage), Wright State’s Jessie Thornton (League-best 532 digs) and Cleveland State’s Gina Kilner (310 assists in conference play).
The Horizon League Volleyball Championship begins on Friday, Nov. 21 at the Athletics Center o’rena in Rochester, Mich. The quarterfinals start with No. 6 UIC facing No. 3 Valparaiso at 5:00 (ET) and No. 5 Cleveland State playing No. 4 Youngstown State at 7:30 p.m. (ET). No. 1 Oakland will square off against the lowest remaining seed while No. 2 Milwaukee will meet the highest remaining team in the semifinals, which begin at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 22. The championship contest begins at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 23.
All five matches will be carried live on ESPN3.
2014 HORIZON LEAGUE AWARD WINNERS
Co-Players of the Year: Emily Campbell, Valparaiso and Stephenee Yancy, UIC
Defensive Player of the Year: Taylor Humm, Oakland
Setter of the Year: Val Jeffery, Youngstown State
Freshman of the Year: Nicole Johnson, UIC
Coach of the Year: Rob Beam, Oakland
All-League Team
Stephenee Yancy, UIC (Jr., MB)
Emily Campbell, Valparaiso (So., OH/RS)
Julie Kolinske, Milwaukee (Sr., OH)
Taylor Humm, Oakland (Sr., L)
Cassie Pelloni, Oakland (Jr., OH)
Val Jeffery, Youngstown State (So., S)
Kayla Price, Milwaukee (Jr., S)
Kelsey Victor, Valparaiso (Sr., MH/OH)
Sammy Condon, Oakland (Fr., MH)
Lexi Egler, Youngstown State (Sr., OH)
Maggie Hannon, Cleveland State (Sr., MH)
Nicole Johnson, UIC (Fr., S)
Kelsey Berrington, Valparaiso (Jr., S)
Grace Kauth, Cleveland State (So., OH)
All-Freshman Team
Nicole Johnson, UIC (Fr., S)
Sammy Condon, Oakland (Fr., MH)
Allison Ketcham, Valparaiso (Fr., OH)
Samantha Brown, Youngstown State (Fr., OH)
Taylor Graboski, Valparaiso (Fr., MH/OH)
Jessie Thornton, Wright State (Fr., L)
Gina Kilner, Cleveland State (Fr., S)
