Five Teams Highlight #BigSkyVB All-Conference Team
FARMINGTON, Utah (November 25, 2019) – The Big Sky Conference announced its 2019 volleyball all-conference team. All-conference honors are separated into two 12 person teams with the top 11 vote recipients and the league MVP receiving first-team honors. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.
Montana State, Northern Colorado, and Weber State headlined the first team with each school placing three players on the team. Northern Arizona was represented by two players while Sacramento State placed one player on the first team.
Northern Arizona’s Abby Akin received first-team recognition for the third straight year while teammate Heaven Harris was named to the first team for the second straight year.
Akin leads the Lumberjacks in kills and blocks and was named Big Sky Player of the Week three times this season. Akin has totaled 296 kills this year and has acquired a hitting mark of .401, a league-best. The senior middle blocker also totaled 136 blocks, the most in the league this year, with 18 of them being solo blocks.
Harris has notched 216 kills and is averaging 3.09 per set with a hitting percentage of .317. Defensively, Harris has 50 blocks with 15 being solo blocks.
Weber State’s Megan Gneiting received first-team honors for the second straight season and was joined on the first team by Dani Nay and Ashlyn Power.
Gneiting leads the Wildcats in blocks and has recorded 106 with an average of 0.98 per set. Offensively, she is second on the Weber State roster in kills with a total of 303 and a hitting mark of .245. The senior has also recorded 27 services aces this season.
Nay leads the Wildcat offense with 304 kills and is averaging 3.38 kills per set which is 9th best in the conference. Nay is hitting .240 this season and also recorded 20 service aces on offense.
Power is second in the conference in assists with an average of 10.98 a set and has totaled 1,186 during the season. Power leads the team in service aces at 29 and has also recorded 34 kills.
Northern Colorado is represented on the first team by Daisy Schultz, Taylor Muff, and Kaylie Jo Ince.
Schultz currently leads the conference in assists and totaled 1,256 assists for a set average of 11.21. The junior setter has been instrumental in the success of the Bears offensive attack.
Ince leads the Bears with 434 kills this season and is ranked second in the Big Sky and currently has a .274 hitting mark. Defensively, Ince has totaled 40 blocks this season, including 15 solo blocks.
The third player to represent the Bears on the first team is Taylor Muff. Muff has been a defensive leader for the Bears and has totaled 57 blocks and has a team-high 16 solo blocks. The junior outside hitter has also been a key to the Bears offensive success as she is second on the team with 355 kills which ranks her sixth-best in the conference.
Montana State’s trio of Allyssa Rizzo, Evi Wilson, and Hannah Scott represented the Bobcats on the first team.
Rizzo, a three-time Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week, leads the conference in digs per set this season with an average of 5.96 and has totaled 620 digs. Rizzo has 2,051 digs in her career and is currently third in the conference record books in that category.
Wilson was named Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week twice this season. The outside hitter totaled 340 kills on the season and is ranked fourth in the conference with 3.43 kills per set.
Joining Rizzo and Wilson on the first team for the Bobcats is Hannah Scott. Scott, a junior outside hitter, totaled 284 kills, including a season-high 20 kills against Sacramento State.
Sacramento State is the final school to have representation on the first team with Sarah Davis getting the nod. Davis leads the Big Sky in kills and is ranked third in the nation in the same category with 526. The senior is also first in the conference in service aces with 50 this season.
Between the two teams, Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado had the most players selected for all-conference honors with each school receiving four spots.
The conference’s Coach of the Year will be announced on Tuesday and the individual award winners will be announced Wednesday night.
The 2019 Big Sky Championship begins Thursday with the quarterfinal round at The Nest in Sacramento, Calif. All matches will air on Pluto TV channel 531 and on WatchBigSky.com. The semifinals (Friday) and the finals (Saturday) will also air on Eleven Sports.
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2019 Big Sky Volleyball All-Conference Team
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First Team
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Name
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School
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Class
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Position
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Allyssa Rizzo
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Montana State
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Senior
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Libero
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Evi Wilson
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Montana State
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Senior
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Outside Hitter
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Hannah Scott
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Montana State
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Junior
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Outside Hitter
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Abby Akin %
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Northern Arizona
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Senior
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Middle Blocker
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Heaven Harris #
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Northern Arizona
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Junior
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Opposite Hitter
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Daisy Schultz
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Northern Colorado
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Junior
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Setter
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Taylor Muff
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Northern Colorado
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Junior
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Outside Hitter
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Kailey Jo Ince
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Northern Colorado
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Sophomore
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Outside Hitter
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Sarah Davis
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Sacramento State
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Senior
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Outside Hitter
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Megan Gneiting #
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Weber State
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Senior
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Outside Hitter
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Dani Nay
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Weber State
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Freshman
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Outside Hitter
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Ashlyn Power
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Weber State
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Junior
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Setter
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% - Three-time All-Big Sky First Team Selection
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# - Two-time All-Big Sky First Team Selection
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Second Team
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Name
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School
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Class
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Position
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Kennedy Warren
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Idaho
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Sophomore
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Middle Blocker
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Nicole Ball
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Idaho
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Sophomore
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Middle Blocker
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Taylor Meeks
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Idaho State
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Junior
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Middle Blocker
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Missy Huddleston
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Montana
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Senior
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Opposite Hitter
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Sydney Lema
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Northern Arizona
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Senior
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Outside Hitter
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Taylor Jacobsen
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Northern Arizona
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Freshman
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Outside Hitter
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Lauren Hinrichs
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Northern Colorado
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Junior
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Middle Blocker
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Ellie Snook
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Portland State
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Freshman
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Libero
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Cianna Andrews
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Sacramento State
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Junior
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Middle Blocker
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Ashtin Olin
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Sacramento State
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Sophomore
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Setter
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Shannon Webb
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Southern Utah
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Senior
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Outside Hitter
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Stacey Hone
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Southern Utah
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Junior
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Outside Hitter
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