Vansant, Strickland Take Pac-12 Top Honors
December 02, 2014 | Volleyball
SEATTLE – Krista Vansant is once again the Pac-12 Women's Volleyball Player of the Year, the conference office announced this morning, as the senior standout becomes the first Husky ever to win back-to-back Player of the Year honors and just the fifth player in Pac-12 history to win two straight. Also picking up a big honor is junior Cassie Strickland, who was named Pac-12 Libero of the Year in her first season at the position.
Vansant and Strickland were two of eight Huskies to earn recognition today in the Pac-12 awards, which are based on a vote of the conference head coaches. Washington finished the regular season with a 29-2 record, going 18-2 in the Pac-12 and earning the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA tournament which starts this Friday against New Hampshire at Alaska Airlines Arena.
The main All-Pac-12 Team has expanded from 14 to 18 players this season. Vansant is on the team for the third time, and she is joined by senior Kaleigh Nelson, who earns her second straight All-Pac-12 honor, and junior Lianna Sybeldon, who moves up from honorable mention a year ago to the main team this year.
Strickland earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention, as does junior middle blocker Melanie Wade, a first for both.
The seven-player Pac-12 All-Freshman Team was also unveiled today, with Husky outside hitters Crissy Jones and Tia Scambray each earning a spot. Redshirt freshman setter Bailey Tanner was also named honorable mention.
Additional Pac-12 honors were given to Mary-Kate Marshall of Oregon State as the Freshman of the Year, Madi Bugg of Stanford as the Setter of the Year, and Oregon State Head Coach Taras Liskevych as Coach of the Year.
The history-making win for Vansant is another in a long line of honors for the Redlands, Calif. native. Just this week, Vansant broke the record for most Pac-12 Player of the Week awards with her 10th win, and then was named AVCA National Player of the Week for the third time in her career. Yesterday, she was also named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Add that to her 2013 season which saw her named AVCA National Player of the Year and Honda Award winner. Vansant finished the regular season third in the Pac-12 in kills per set (4.65) and points per set (5.30), as well as sixth in service aces per set (0.28).
Vansant is the first player to win Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year and Player of the Year in the same season. The Scholar-Athlete of the Year dates back to 2007-08. She also joins a list of two-time Player of the Year winners that includes Foluke Akindradewo (Stanford; 2007-08), Logan Tom (Stanford; 2001-02), Kerri Walsh (Stanford; 1998-99), and Daiva Tomkus (UCLA; 1988-89).
This is the fourth Pac-12 Player of the Year win for Washington all-time, all coming during Head Coach Jim McLaughlin's tenure. Sanja Tomasevic first won the award in 2005, and Christal Morrison earned the honor in 2006. The four Player of the Year honors are third-most in Pac-12 history, behind the 14 of Stanford and the five for UCLA.
A junior from Huntington Beach, Calif., Strickland earns the first Libero of the Year honor for Washington after anchoring a staunch UW defense that held opponents to a .175 hitting percentage, the lowest in the Pac-12. She averaged 3.82 digs per set for the Huskies, including a 4.07 average in Pac-12 play. Strickland also notched 44 service aces for an average of 0.41 aces per set, which was second in the league. The Libero of the Year award began in 2011.
Nelson earns her second consecutive All-Pac-12 honor after ranking second on the team with 2.38 kills per set. Her career-best .333 attack percentage this season is tops among all outside hitters in the Pac-12. Nelson is also averaging 0.84 blocks per set. The Salem, Oregon native now has 909 career kills and 1,058 career points scored.
A Folsom, Calif. product, Sybeldon is the first Husky middle blocker on the All-Pac-12 First Team since Bianca Rowland in 2011. Sybeldon is fourth nationally in blocks per set with 1.55 and leads the Pac-12. Her .396 attack percentage also ranks third in the conference and 21st nationally.
Wade picks up honorable mention for the first time after leading the Huskies with a .409 attack percentage that is just a few attempts short of qualifying for the national rankings. The Palo Alto, Calif. native is one of the top servers in the Pac-12 with 30 aces, a 0.27 aces per set average that ranks eighth in the Pac-12. She has averaged 1.14 blocks per set in Pac-12 play to rank sixth, and her 1.37 kills per set average is a career-best.
Scambray, from Dana Point, Calif., has been a huge part of UW's success this year, handling the most serve-receptions on the team to get the Husky offense running. She also ranks just behind Nelson in kills per set with 2.37, and has 2.11 digs per set and her 0.28 aces per set ranks fifth in the Pac-12 and second on the team. Scambray was twice named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week this season.
Jones earned an All-Freshman Team spot despite missing the last four matches due to an ankle sprain. But her .318 attack percentage in conference matches is the best mark in the Pac-12 among outside hitters. The Los Alamitos, Calif. native has averaged 1.49 kills per set and 0.91 blocks per set as a right side attacker, which was a new position for Jones, who began the season practicing as a middle blocker.
Tanner earns All-Freshman honorable mention after an impressive first season as one of two setters in UW's 6-2 offense. Tanner led the Huskies in assists in 12 matches this year, and helped UW to a .312 attack percentage for the year, which ranks fourth in the NCAA. Hailing from San Clemente, California, Tanner has served up 14 aces and averaged 1.65 digs per set.
2014 Pac-12 Player of the Year: Krista Vansant, Washington
2014 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year: Mary-Kate Marshall, Oregon State
2014 Pac-12 Setter of the Year: Madi Bugg, Stanford
2014 Pac-12 Libero of the Year: Cassie Strickland, Washington
2014 Pac-12 Coach of the Year: Taras Liskevych, Oregon State
2014 ALL-PAC-12 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL TEAM
| PLAYER, TEAM | POS. | HT. | YR. | HOMETOWN |
| Inky Ajanaku, STAN*** | MB | 6-3 | Jr. | Tulsa, Okla. |
| Alexis Austin, COLO | OH | 6-2 | Jr. | Houston, Texas |
| Martenne Bettendorf, ORE | OH | 6-0 | Jr. | Portland, Ore. |
| Liz Brenner, ORE *** | OH | 6-1 | Sr. | Portland, Ore. |
| Samantha Bricio, USC *** | OH | 6-2 | Jr. | Guadalajara, Mexico |
| Madi Bugg, STAN | S | 6-0 | Jr. | Apex, N.C. |
| Jordan Burgess, STAN *** | OH | 6-1 | Jr. | Fort Meyers, Fla. |
| Shelby Dalton, UTAH | OPP | 6-1 | Sr. | Moab, Utah |
| Macey Gardner, ASU *** | OH | 6-0 | Jr. | Gilbert, Ariz. |
| Madi Kingdon, ARIZ ** | OH | 6-1 | Sr. | Phoenix, Ariz. |
| Karsta Lowe, UCLA ** | OH | 6-4 | Sr. | Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. |
| Merete Lutz, STAN | MB | 6-8 | RFr. | Houston, Texas |
| Mary-Kate Marshall, OSU | OH | 6-1 | Fr. | Coppell, Texas |
| Kaleigh Nelson, WASH ** | OH | 6-0 | Sr. | Salem, Ore. |
| Penina Snuka, ARIZ | S | 5-6 | So. | Gilbert, Ariz. |
| Lianna Sybeldon, WASH | MB | 6-1 | Jr. | Folsom, Calif. |
| Taylor Simpson, COLO | OH | 6-3 | Sr. | Colorado Springs, Colo. |
| Krista Vansant, WASH *** | OH | 6-2 | Sr. | Redlands, Calif. |
Honorable Mention: Taylor Arizobal, ARIZ; Bailey Bateman, UTAH; Amanda Benson, ORE; Morgan Boukather, STAN; Reily Buechler, UCLA; Julie Consani, UCLA; Taylor Formico, UCLA; Kyle Gilbert, STAN; Christina Higgins, CAL; Brittany Howard, STAN; Kacey Nady, ORE; Arica Nassar, OSU; Ebony Nwanebu, USC; Alicia Ogoms, USC; Lillian Schonewise, CAL; Cassie Strickland, WASH; Lara Vukasovic, CAL; Melanie Wade, WASH.
2014 PAC-12 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
| PLAYER, TEAM | POS. | HT. | HOMETOWN |
| Adora Anae, UTAH | OH | 6-1 | Laie, Hawaii |
| Reily Buechler, UCLA | OH | 6-1 | Del Mar, Calif. |
| Crissy Jones, WASH | OH/MB | 6-2 | Los Alamitos, Calif. |
| Merete Lutz, STAN | MB | 6-8 | Houston, Texas |
| Mary-Kate Marshall, OSU | OH | 6-1 | Coppell, Texas |
| Tia Scambray, WASH | OH | 6-0 | Dana Point, Calif. |
| Frankie Shebby, ORE | OH | 6-0 | La Mirada, Calif. |
Honorable Mention: Halle Harker, ASU; McKenzie Jacobsen, ARIZ; Anna Pfefferle, COLO; Maggie Scott, ORE; Gabby Simpson, COLO; Olga Strantzali, UCLA; Bailey Tanner, WASH.
