INDIANAPOLIS- As the Great Midwest volleyball championship semifinals approach, the G-MAC All-Conference Teams were announced following a vote by the leagues’ coaches.
The coaches’ votes determined a total of 24 student-athletes on this year’s all-conference teams. Each team is made up of two liberos/ defensive specialists, four outside hitters/ middle hitters, and two setters.
Four individual awards are also given out annually: Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year, Coach of the Year, and the Elite 26 Award for academic excellence.
Findlay’s Hannah Miller was selected as Great Midwest Player of the Year. Miller leads the conference in kills and points. She averaged 4.70 points per set, while having an average of 4.19 kills per set.
Alongside Miller, the Oilers had another player make the all-conference list. Senior outside hitter Lauren Foerster earned a spot on the conference’s second-team honors. Foerster is the team’s second-highest in kills at 229, behind Miller’s 419. The Oilers clinched the No. 2 seed and will take on No. 3 Cedarville in the semifinals.
Ohio Dominican’s Annie Fincham was awarded Freshman of the Year. Fincham earned Athlete of the Week honors twice during her rookie year and totaled 274 kills throughout the season. This striking number puts her fourth on the G-MAC list in kills with a 3.34 K/S average.
Voted by her peers was Ashland Eagles Head Coach Alicia Wood for Coach of the Year. Wood led her team to an overall record of 22-5, a conference record of 15-1, putting the Eagles at the top in the East Division. Also, the Eagles clinched the number one overall seed for the Great Midwest tournament and are set to host their semifinal match against No. 5 Hillsdale on Friday (Nov. 13). She also led the following players to first-team selections: Abbey Queen, Kylee Urban, Livi Miller, and Myia Etzler, while Sara Krizsa made the all-conference second team. Etzler leads the conference in blocks (1.29/s), while Queen leads in digs (5.24/s). Miller finds herself in the top four in hitting percentage with a .333.
No. 3 seed Cedarville is also represented well in all-conference honors, with Madelyn Hensley, Carley Craighead, and Alivia Rutt making first-team, while Sidney Shepherd and Allie Platt earned second-team honors. Hensley had a standout performance this season, earning Athlete of the Week honors three times, while being second in conference kills (4.19 K/S), and points (4.37/S). Rutt is second in digs (5.24/S), while Craighead is second in blocks (1.02/S).
Lone first-team honorees for conference programs were Grace Drake (Hillsdale), Katelyn Owens (Tiffin), and Maria Montseny (Walsh). Drake represents the Chargers on the assists chart, sitting at second with 9.83 per set. Owens, a two-time Athlete of the Week earner, tops the hitting percentage charts with a .407. Montseny leads the Cavaliers in kills with 308 for the season, which puts her in the top twenty in the conference charts.
Four volleyball programs find themselves in the conference championship semifinals and are gearing up for Friday’s competition. No. 3 Cedarville and No. 2 Findlay will fight to punch their ticket to the finals at 5:00 pm, followed by No. 4 Hillsdale taking on No. 1 seed Ashland at 7:30 pm.