INDIANAPOLIS -- UIC senior Stephenee Yancy has been named the Horizon League Volleyball Player of the Year in voting of the League’s coaches.
It is the second consecutive season the UIC senior has been the League’s Player of the Year. She is the first player to repeat as Player of the Year since Milwaukee’s Kerri Schuh won the award in 2010 and 2011.
Also collecting individual accolades were Green Bay’s Jillian Bauer, who was named Defensive Player of the Year, Oakland’s Ciara Schultz as the Setter of the Year and Northern Kentucky’s Haley Libs who collected Freshman of the Year honors.
Cleveland State coach Chuck Voss was named Coach of the Year after leading the Vikings to a regular season Horizon League title. It is the fourth Coach of the Year honor for Voss.
Yancy led the Horizon League in both kills per set and hitting percentage this season in repeating as Player of the Year. The senior from Aroma Park, Ill., recorded 307 kills in 16 League matches (5.12 per set) while hitting .375.
For her career at UIC, Yancy finished with 1,056 kills and a hitting percentage of .345.
Bauer won Defensive Player of the Year accolades after ranking among League leaders in digs. The senior earned Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week honors once during the season and ranked fourth in the Horizon League with an average of 5.05 digs per contest in League matches.
Schultz is the Setter of the Year in the award’s second year of existence. Schultz paced all setters in the Horizon League in League competition averaging 11.83 assists per set as she directed an Oakland offense that hit .245, the second-best mark in HL only competition.
Libs won Freshman of the Year honors after ranking third in League-play with an average of 4.00 kills per set. She had 260 kills in 16 League matches and was the only Freshman to rank in the top-10 in either kills per set or total kills. Libs is also the only Freshman to make the 14-person All-League team.
Cleveland State, the regular season champion with a 13-3 League mark, placed three players on the All-League team. Junior outside hitter Grace Kauth is on the All-League Team for the second time in her career after registering 214 kills at a 3.57 kills per set clip during League play. Senior outside hitter Christina Toth (team-best 225 kills in HL play) and sophomore middle hitter Alexis Middlebrooks (64 blocks, 1.1 per set in HL play) are honored on the All-League team for the first time in their careers.
Oakland, the defending regular season and tournament champion and second-seed in this year’s championship, had four players make the All-League squad. Joining Schultz on the All-League team is senior outside hitter Cassie Pelloni made her third All-Horizon League team as the senior had 201 kills in HL play. Sophomore middle hitter Sammy Condon made the All-League team for the second consecutive year after recording 144 kills and a .294 hitting percentage while also leading the Golden Grizzlies with 51 blocks in League play. Junior outside hitter Melissa Deatsch rounded out the Oakland players honored. Deatsch led Oakland with 213 kills in League play.
The third-seed Crusaders placed two players on the All-League team. Last year’s Co-Player of the Year Emily Campbell and Allison Ketcham represented the Crusaders. Campbell ranked second in the HL with an average of 4.52 kills per set, while Ketcham had 157 kills and 231 digs in HL play.
Northern Kentucky, the number four seed in its first season in the League, was represented by Freshman of the year Libs on the All-League team.
In addition to Bauer, fifth-seed Green Bay also placed sophomore middle blocker Lydia DeWeese on the All-League team. DeWeese hit .302 in League play with 135 kills for the Phoenix.
Sixth-seed Milwaukee had junior libero Myanna Ruiz on the All-League team. Ruiz ranked fifth in the Horizon League with an average of 5.03 digs per set.
Libs headlined the All-Freshman team. Also making the squad was Green Bay’s Jessica Wolf (126 kills in League play), Milwaukee’s Maddie Williams (141 kills and 38 blocks in HL play), Northern Kentucky’s Keyaira Lankheit (second in HL with avg of 1.21 blocks per set in League matches), Cleveland State’s Rachel Stover (73 kills and 26 blocks in HL play), Valparaiso’s Kayla Currier (86 kills and 40 blocks) and Katherine Carlson (71 kills and 62 digs in League play) and Youngstown State’s Sarah Varcolla (120 kills and 30 blocks in HL play).
The Horizon League Volleyball Championship begins on Friday, Nov. 20 at Woodling Gym in Cleveland, Ohio. The quarterfinals start with No. 6 Milwaukee facing No. 3 Valparaiso at 4:30 (ET) and No. 5 Green Bay playing No. 4 Northern Kentucky at 7:00 p.m. (ET). No. 1 Cleveland State will square off against the lowest remaining seed while No. 2 Oakland will meet the highest remaining team in the semifinals, which begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, Nov. 21. The championship contest begins at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Nov. 22.
All five matches will be carried live on ESPN3.
