2015 G-MAC Volleyball All-Conference Team (PDF)
MASON, Ohio – A total of 21 student-athletes comprised the All-Great Midwest Athletic Conference Volleyball Team as announced before the start of the postseason on Thursday.
Twenty-seven selections were made on the first, second and all-freshman teams, while six freshmen earned dual honors.
All voting for the G-MAC All-Conference Volleyball Team was conducted among the league’s coaches.
The G-MAC Championship is being held on a neutral court in Mason Arena. Two quarterfinals will be played today while a pair of semifinals will determine who meets in Saturday’s final.
An automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional is on the line for the six qualifying teams.
Cedarville headlined this year’s all-conference team with the most student-athletes after six Yellow Jackets were scattered throughout. Alderson Broaddus and Trevecca Nazarene each had four all-conference picks.
The talented up-and-coming youth had five freshmen on the all-conference second team while the all-conference first team also had one rookie chosen.
G-MAC Co-Offensive Players of the Year
Abby Shelton
Cedarville
Junior
Outside Hitter
Katelyn Atkinson
Trevecca Nazarene
Senior
Outside Hitter/Middle Blocker
In a split vote, the league’s coaches determined G-MAC Offensive Player of the Year should be shared between Cedarville’s Abby Shelton and Trevecca Nazarene’s Katelyn Atkinson.
Atkinson and Shelton were No. 1 and 2 in the G-MAC in kills during the regular season. Both were G-MAC Athletes of the Week and Atkinson reeled in the honor three times.
The pair delivered in big ways for their respective teams and as outside hitters, have been two of the biggest offensive threats around the league.
Atkinson is just nine kills away from Ohio Valley's Alyx Henry in order to become the G-MAC all-time leader in kills with 1,245. Both will be seniors next year. Atkinson was also among the league leaders in digs and posted a season-best 27 kills against Oakland City.
She was routinely in double-digit kill figures and had a season-high 18 vs. Alderson Broaddus. Her .276 hitting percentage also ranked second in the conference.
Shelton totaled nearly 400 kills on the year and closed the year with double-digit kill totals in seven of the team's final eight matches. She had 26 kills against Alderson Broaddus, a season-best figure for the junior, and accounted for 4.33 points per set.
Shelton has been a member of the previous two G-MAC Cedarville champion squads and has her sights set on a third heading into the conference tournament.
G-MAC Coach of the Year
Carrie Bodkins
Alderson Broaddus
After leading Alderson Broaddus to a division title, Carrie Bodkins was tabbed the G-MAC Coach of the Year by her peers and counterparts on the sideline.
Her Battlers went 8-2 in the conference schedule and are resting during an opening-round bye during Thursday’s quarterfinals.
Bodkins has orchestrated her program’s best run in the G-MAC in her 11th season at the helm. In addition to being a head coach, she shoulders various administrative roles in the Alderson Broaddus athletics department.
She has overseen the development of a balanced lineup that includes all-conference selections Lauren Hogan, Megan Christmann, Jayla McCrary and Abby Gourley.
AB took care of business in the Black Division and enjoyed a stretch from Oct. 6-10 while sweeping Davis & Elkins and beating Trevecca Nazarene and Kentucky Wesleyan in four sets each.
G-MAC Freshman of the Year
Taylor Wilkerson
Cedarville
Freshman
Middle Blocker
Wilkerson appears to be carrying a tradition of impact hitters up front for the Yellow Jackets in the footsteps of Hannah Wagner, Amanda Bell, Abby Shelton, Rachel Krikke and Krissy Pratt.
As a rookie middle blocker, Wilkerson played her way into head coach Doug Walters’ starting rotation for 31 of the team’s 32 matches. She averaged 1.41 kills per set and an average of 0.65 blocks per frame.
Wilkerson had a season-high 13 kills against Bellarmine and tallied a dozen kills each vs. Ohio Valley and Indianapolis. She also had a career-high eight blocks against UIndy.