Amber #1

[BeckysTXA]

Amber is leading the nation in hitting percentage this morning on the NCAA stat page - by quite a bit. .487 to .478. Kendyll is #25. Jane is #50 in assists. Margo is #12 in digs. Jess is #24 On attacks and #48 in points.

Congrats ladies!

[BeckysTXA]

More honors for players. Amber is the co-pow for the third time in four weeks. And Jamie is the ROW for the 2nd time in 4 weeks. Congrats

[swish61]

I had to post this today. I had the privilege of meeting Amber last night at the gate waiting for a return flight to Dayton. I talked to her a bit while we were waiting to board our plane. What a super young lady she is. Her parents must be busting with pride. It's so nice to know that she is a representative of our University.

[Chris R]

Whats the prevailing consensus on the postseason awards?

Are we pretty much in agreement:
POY - Rygelski
ROY - Peterson
SOY - Emmenecker
LOY - Wolf or Sharrits?
COY - Horsmon

1st Team: Sloan, Emmenecker, Erhahon, Wolf - depending on LOY
2nd Team: Peterson, Wolf - depending on LOY, Bruns or Kendyll???

By the way, we've played one 5-set match all year (W- Northwestern). Pretty hard to believe. NW is 1-11 on the road and 1-5 at home. Just six home matches all season!

[BeckysTXA]

POY Rygelski
COY Horsmon

LOY - it was close all year between Margo and Sharrits from LaSalle. Margo has pulled away a little at the end to lead digs/set 5.25 vs 5.09. This doesn't always drive this award. I believe Janna won it a couple years finishing 2nd in the stats. But Margo should win this and bring it home to UD for the 3rd year in a row.

SOY - this too has been close all year between Jane and Kinnan from RI. Jane is ahead in the stats and should win it for the 3rd year in a row. But I do worry about this one because RI will probably finish 2nd in the conference, and you worry that the coaches like to spread the awards around. Kinnan might be RIs only award winner.

ROY - I'm not sure Jamie wins this. Doesn't mean she doesn't deserve it. But I think it goes to Fairchild from Fordham. I hope not, but I know coaches love to reward 6 rotation players and Fairchild is very good. She plays the same position as Jess Sloan, and her numbers are just a little better than Jess' in every area. Fairchild is #1 in Aces/set, 2nd in kills/set behind Regelski, she digs over 2/set, her hitting percentage is .231 and blocks at .37/set which is ok for a left OH. All that as a freshman. Jamie is hitting .310 and blocking from the outside at .82. Both of those are very, very good for her position, even for a senior. But she didn't play 6 rotations this year. I believe she will next year. Both these players will be on the all-rookie team, but unless they name co-ROY (and they did last year), I think this goes to Fairchild.

1st team - Jane. Amber and Kendyll. We have the two best middles in the conference and their stats are basically even. I don't know how the coaches could split the honor between these two. 7 players make this team. We have had 3 many years, but only 2010 did we garner 4. SLU also had 4 in 2008. Those are the only two times. They could go with Jess and slide Jane to 2nd. Jane was 2nd and SOY two years ago. Or we could get 4 this year. On a side note, GWs middle Chimida Oswu....something...was 1st team last year. She will not be this year. Tough way to end a very good players career on a team that just could not get it going this year.

2nd or HM - unfortunately the Libero position doesn't usually get a 1st team vote, but makes a team, so Margo Jess will also make all-conference somewhere in the mix. 7 players make the 2nd team. If there are players that garner very close in votes over the 7, they list honorable mention, but it's a year-to-year thing if more than 14 honors are given out. Jamie and Lauren could also be in the mix. The last two years I have felt Jill Loiars should have been an all-conference player. Her stats were very good, but she didn't play 6 rotations and so from the outside, she didn't get recognized. Both Lauren and Jamie might fall into that hole too. Jamie will make the all-rookie team.

I have heard Maggie is very academic. DS players don't get a lot of recognition, but it would be nice if she made the all-academic team because I think she has played really well in her role this year. But, usually it goes to starters so we will see.

	Fordham FORDHAM Fordham University is an independent Jesuit university established in 1841 as St. John's College on old Rose Hill Manor in the village of Fordham, then part of Westchester County in the Bronx, NY. The name Fordham is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words "ford" and "ham," meaning a wading place or ford by a settlement. Rose Hill is the name given to the site in 1787 by Robert Watts, a wealthy New York merchant, in honor of his family's ancestral home of the same name in Scotland. The College was originally staffed by diocesan clergy. The name was officially changed to Fordham University in 1907. Fordham's 10 schools enroll 14,448 students. There are 7,652 undergraduates, of whom 3,842 live in University-managed housing either on-campus or in the local community. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Rams. Athletic claim to fame is consistent mediocrity in nearly all sports and few A10 title winning programs.

	LaSalle LA SALLE In 1863, La Salle University was established through the legacy of St. John Baptist de La Salle and the Christian Brothers teaching order, which De La Salle founded 300 years ago. Located in Philadelphia, La Salle is an educational community shaped by traditional Catholic and Lasallian values. La Salle's main campus is an ideal place for students to pursue an education. The 130-acre park-like setting includes 54 buildings and is located approximately six miles from Center City Philadelphia. The University can accommodate 2,114 resident students in its 12 residence halls, two apartment complexes, and 75 townhouses. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Explorers. Notable athletes include Tom Gola and Lionel Simmons.

	Saint Louis SAINT LOUIS Saint Louis University is a Jesuit, Catholic university ranked among the top research institutions in the nation. The University fosters the intellectual and character development of more than 12,700 students. Founded in 1818, it is the oldest university west of the Mississippi and the second oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Located in St. Louis, MO, and just five minutes from the Gateway Arch, SLU offers 85 undergraduate programs and over 50 graduate study tracks. Over 99% of the SLU faculty hold the highest degree in their respective fields. Fellow member of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Billikens, but also commonly known as "Sloo", the phonetic pronunciation of the school's initials. Athletic claims to fame include multiple national titles in men's soccer and men's basketball star Larry Hughes.

[udisit19]

Trying to predict the all-conference awards are always fun.

Since Becky thinks the conference normally likes to reward 6 rotation players I am gonna guess that Molly Davet of Duquesne will make the second team. Her offensive numbers are nothing to write home about. She had a ton of attempts, 1021 to be exact and had only a .170 hitting percentage. But her defense is very strong. She had 3.76 digs per set. If she was in the back row 5 rotations in stead of 3 you would have to imagine she could be competing with Wolf and Sharrits for most digs in the conference. If you compare Davet's numbers to the next best OH in the conference she looks good because Nenye Okoro of SLU had 2.80. Davet bests Okoro by almost 1 dig per set. Here is a list of some of the best defensive OHs.

Molly Davet (DUQ) 3.76 dig/set
Nenye Okoro (SLU) 2.80
Danielle Rygelski (SLU) 2.56
Alicia Kandler (VCU) 2.24
Kaitlyn Morley (FOR) 2.17
Audrey Castro (RI) 2.13
Jess Sloan (DAY) 1.99
Jennifer Edwards (LAS) 1.98

Given some average offensive numbers from Duquesne, the defense must be what they rely on and what gives Dayton so much trouble. I think the back row play from Davet deserves some recognition because it really is important to their team.

And this list also continues to help Rygelski's argument for her bid for player of the year. Her stats in every category are the best or close to it. She is not only the most productive outside hitter, but the 3rd best back row defense, a great server (0.51 aces per set) and has strong block numbers for an OH (0.51 blks/s).

	Duquesne DUQUESNE Duquesne University is a private, coeducational university, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania located on 48 secluded acres, on a bluff above downtown. Founded in 1878 as a Catholic college by the Order of the Holy Spirit. It is the only Spiritan institution of higher education in the world. Duquesne offers 10 schools of study and 100 degree programs to 6,000 undergraduates and 3,800 graduate students. Fellow members of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Dukes.

	Saint Louis SAINT LOUIS Saint Louis University is a Jesuit, Catholic university ranked among the top research institutions in the nation. The University fosters the intellectual and character development of more than 12,700 students. Founded in 1818, it is the oldest university west of the Mississippi and the second oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Located in St. Louis, MO, and just five minutes from the Gateway Arch, SLU offers 85 undergraduate programs and over 50 graduate study tracks. Over 99% of the SLU faculty hold the highest degree in their respective fields. Fellow member of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Billikens, but also commonly known as "Sloo", the phonetic pronunciation of the school's initials. Athletic claims to fame include multiple national titles in men's soccer and men's basketball star Larry Hughes.

[udisit19]

Great breakdown of Rookie of the Year. I think both Olivia Fairchild and Jaime Peterson have put up some REALLY IMPRESSIVE stats for Freshman. They should be great players for few years. The A-10 is lucky to have both of them.

[BeckysTXA]

Rygelski is #1 in the country in both kills per set and points per set. She deserves to be a first team AA, but because of SLUs season, she might slide to 2nd team. I find that ironic, because when you play SLU you know where the ball is going. Teams game plan to stop her first and she still scores and plays great digging the ball. All the other 1st team AAs will be from teams that have a ton of weapons to distract the defenses they go up against.

Also, unless it's a tie, I think Fairchld takes ROY. I'm hoping they go for a co-ROY. But I would put money on Jamie being the conference POY for at least 2 of her years at UD and maybe even 3. Her speed of development has been amazing and I think it's only going to continue. Her ceiling is very, very high.

	Saint Louis SAINT LOUIS Saint Louis University is a Jesuit, Catholic university ranked among the top research institutions in the nation. The University fosters the intellectual and character development of more than 12,700 students. Founded in 1818, it is the oldest university west of the Mississippi and the second oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Located in St. Louis, MO, and just five minutes from the Gateway Arch, SLU offers 85 undergraduate programs and over 50 graduate study tracks. Over 99% of the SLU faculty hold the highest degree in their respective fields. Fellow member of the A10 Conference. Nickname is the Billikens, but also commonly known as "Sloo", the phonetic pronunciation of the school's initials. Athletic claims to fame include multiple national titles in men's soccer and men's basketball star Larry Hughes.