This is the last roundup.
With the regular season ended and NCAA Tournament play beginning Thursday, the nation’s Division I conferences have named their top players of the year in different categories.
Many of the mid-majors announced last week their players of the year, so those leagues are not included in this roundup.
Too see who won honors in those conferences, here is a link to last week’s roundup.
ACC
Player of the year: North Carolina outside hitter Taylor Leath
Defensive: Duke senior libero Sasha Karlov
Setter: Pittsburgh sophomore setter Kamalani Akeo
Freshman: North Carolina outside hitter Julia Scoles
Coach: Joe Sagula, North Carolina
Worth noting: Leath is UNC’s first POY since 2005. She had 232 kills, 178 digs, 50 blocks and hit .282 in conference play. Teammate Scoles made the All-ACC first-team and ACC freshman team. Sagula won the award for the fifth time.
Big 12
Player of the year: Kansas junior right side Kelsie Payne
Libero: Kansas senior libero Cassie Wait
Setter: Kansas junior Ainise Havili
Freshman: Texas outside Micaya White
Coach: Ray Bechard, Kansas
Worth noting: This is the first time Kansas has had the POY or top libero. Payne ranked in the top three in the league with 4.07 kills and 4.77 points per set. Wait averaged a league-best 5.11 digs in conference play. Havili repeats as top setter. White was a unanimous choice of top freshman. She was fourth in the league in kills per set at 3.98. Bechard is the top coach for the fourth time.
Big Ten
Player of the year: Minnesota senior outside Sarah Wilhite
Defensive: Nebraska senior libero Justine Wong-Orantes
Setter: Minnesota sophomore setter Samantha Seliger-Swenson
Freshman: Wisconsin freshman outside hitter Molly Haggerty
Coach: John Cook, Nebraska
Worth noting: Wilhite finished second in the league with 4.13 kills in conference play. Former teammate Daly Santana won the honor last year. Wong-Orantes was second in the Big Ten with 4.22 digs per set in conference play. Seliger-Swenson averaged 11.09 assists in Big Ten play and in all matches ranks ninth nationally at 11.45 assists. Haggerty is seventh in kills in B1G matches at 3.19 per set.
Pac-12
Player of the year: Washington junior outside Courtney Schwan
Libero: UCLA senior libero Taylor Formico
Setter: Arizona senior Penina Snuka
Freshman: Stanford freshman outside Kathryn Plummer
Coach: Jen Greeny, Washington State
Worth noting: Schwan is sixth in the league in kills at 3.76. Formica leads the Pac-12 in digs at 5.03 per set. Plummer is second in the league in kills at 3.24. Snuka is second in the league in assists at 10.71 and all-conference for the third consecutive year. Greeny has taken her team to its best season since she was a player at Washington State.
Southeastern Conference
Player of the year: Alabama senior outside Krystal Rivers
Libero: Kentucky junior Ashley Dusek
Freshman: Kentucky outside Leah Edmond
Coach: Wayne Kreklow, Missouri
Worth noting: Rivers is Alabama’s first POY. She was also named the league’s scholar-athlete of the year. She finished second in the nation in kills and averaged 5.77 per set. Dusek is second in the league in digs at 4.80 per set. Edmond was second only to Rivers with 4.29 kills per set. Kreklow also won the award in 2013.
American Athletic
Player of the year: Cincinnati sophomore right side Jordan Thompson
Setter: Cincinnati sophomore Jade Tingelhoff
Libero: SMU senior Morgan Heise
Freshman: SMU setter Kendall Patterson
Coach: Molly Alvey, Cincinnati
Worth noting: Thompson is the AAC unanimous POY. She averaged 4.95 kills. Tingelhoff averaged 11.11 assists. Heise was named the league’s top libero for the third consecutive year. She led the league in digs for the third straight year, as well, averaging 5.16 per set. Patterson is the first SMU player to be top freshman. Alvey has turned things around at Cincinnati as it back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011.
The complete American Athletic release
Big East
Player of the year: Creighton junior setter Lydia Dimke
Libero: Seton Hall junior Tessa Fournier
Co-Freshman: Marquette outside Allie Barber
Co-Freshman: St. John’s setter Erica Di Maulo
Coach: Kirsten Bernthal Booth, Creighton
Worth noting: Dimke, who transferred from Purdue, was 11th nationally at 11.6 per set and averaged 2.8 digs and 0.61 blocks in league play. Fournier is the top libero for the third time after averaging 5.03 digs per set. Barber averaged 2.2 kills in Big East matches, while Di Maulo averaged 10.04 assists. Booth and her staff took coaching honors for the second straight year.
Big Sky
Most valuable player: North Dakota junior setter Sydney Griffin
Top newcomer: North Dakota junior outside Tamara Merseli
Freshman: Northern Arizona middle blocker Abby Akin
Libero: Sacramento State senior Lexie Skalbeck
Coach: Mark Pryor, North Dakota
Worth noting: Griffin is third in the league at 10.61 assists per set and also has 95 kills, 258 digs, 10 solo blocks and 68 block assists. Merseli averaged 2.83 kills and 3.89 digs. Skalbeck led the league in digs with 5.14 per set, 5.82 in conference play. Akin averaged 1.13 blocks per set and hit .361. Pryor
Click here for the Big Sky players story
Click here for the Big Sky coach story
Big West
Player of the year: Hawai’i senior right side Nikki Taylor
Freshman: UC Santa Barbara outside Lindsey Ruddins
Coach: Dave Shoji, Hawai’i
Worth noting: Taylor goes back-to-back after leading the league in kills with 4.59 per set and aces, 0.65. She POW four times this season. Ruddins is third in the league in kills at 4.09 and had 31 aces. Shoji is the top coach for the sixth time as the Rainbow Wahine won their fourth Big West title in five years and eighth overall.
Missouri Valley
Player of the year: Missouri State junior Lily Johnson
Libero: Illinois State sophomore Courtney Pence
Freshman: Missouri State setter Daniele Messa
Setter: Wichita State junior Emily Hiebert
Coach: Melissa Stokes, Missouri State
Worth noting: Johnson is a repeat winner and the fourth player in league history to lead the conference in kills three times, and averages 4.59 kills, 5.16 points, 3.01 digs, 0.36 aces and 0.35 blocks per set with a .236 hitting percentage. Pence led the Valley with 5.49 digs per set, while Hiebert was second in the league with 10.62 assists per set. She also hit .293. Messa led the league with 11.22 in MVC matches. Stokes is the top coach for the second time.
Mountain West
Player of the year: Boise State outside Sierra Nobley
Newcomer: Colorado State freshman middle Kirstie Hillyer
Freshman: Colorado State setter Katie Oleksak
Coach: Shawn Garus, Boise State
The complete Mountain West release
West Coast
Player of the year: San Diego senior outside Lisa Kramer
Defender: Loyola Marymount junior Sarah Sponcil
Freshman: BYU outside McKenna Miller
Coach: Brent Crouch, Portland
Worth noting: Kramer led the league in kills with 4.11 per set and hit .305. Sponcil not only averaged 3.47 kills, but also 2.98 sigs and 0.34 blocks. Miller was third in the WCC in kills with 3.73 per set. Crouch has completely turned things around in Portland, which boasted upsets of league foes USD and BYU this season.
