Volleyball All-Conference Teams Announced
Bowdoin's Hanczor,
Tufts' Lord Share Conference's Top Honor
HADLEY, Mass. – Senior middle
blocker Kristin Hanczor (Redding, Conn.) of Bowdoin and junior
setter Kendall Lord (La Jolla, Calif.) of Tufts have been chosen by
the conference coaches as the 2011 NESCAC Co-Players of the Year,
it was announced on Wednesday. Both players led their teams to the
top of the NESCAC standings this season, and both will also be
competing in the NCAA Tournament with their squads starting
Friday.
An All-NESCAC Second Team selection
a year ago, Hanczor helped the Polar Bears capture not only the top
seed in the NESCAC Volleyball Championship for the first time ever
but also the program's first conference crown this past weekend.
Among the league leaders in multiple statistical categories,
Hanczor, who has played in every set to date for Bowdoin, currently
owns a .350 hitting percentage (1st NESCAC), 3.06 kills per set
(8th), and 0.99 blocks per set (2nd) - all of which are career-best
figures. In addition to becoming the first Polar Bear to earn the
conference's top award, Hanczor was the first Bowdoin player named
to the All-Conference First Team in over a decade.
Only the second Jumbo to ever earn
NESCAC Player of the Year, Lord joined fellow Tufts setter Dena
Feiger among the conference's elite after Feiger won the honor in
2009. Like Hanczor, Lord was a Second Team member in 2010 and was
chosen as part of the 2011 First Team. Playing in all 111 of the
Jumbos' sets, Lord has been the linchpin for one of the youngest
offenses in the conference this season. Lord boasts a NESCAC-best
10.61 assists per set while also contributing an average of 3.05
digs and 0.54 blocks. She has also served up 49 aces for Tufts to
rank 10th among all conference players at 0.44 per set.
Returning to the All-NESCAC First
Team were a pair of decorated senior outside hitters as
Middlebury's Jane Handel (Evanston, Ill.) and Connecticut College's
Amy Newman (Los Angeles, Calif.) both received First Team
recognition for the third year in a row. Absent during the first
half of the fall while recovering from an injury, Handel still
managed to garner All-Conference honors for the fourth consecutive
year as the former NESCAC Player and Rookie of the Year has posted
2.97 kills per set with a .218 attack percentage along with 3.07
digs per set heading into the Panthers' second-straight NCAA
Tournament appearance this weekend. Newman closed out her season
pacing the NESCAC in kills for the second year in a row with a 5.10
average, nearly identical to the 5.17 per set figure she put up
last autumn. She completed her career with 1,315 kills, a figure
that ranks second all-time at Connecticut College. The 2010
All-American also recorded a career-best .316 hitting
percentage.
Two other outside hitters joined
Handel and Newman on the First Team. Sophomores Hannah Brickley
(Melrose, Mass.) of Trinity and Megan Jarchow (Cos Cob, Conn.) of
Middlebury netted All-NESCAC honors for the first time in their
careers. Brickley was second only to Newman in kill average among
league players with 4.20 per set, while her total kills of 399 were
second to none. She also assisted the Bantam defense by chipping in
3.11 digs per set. Known for her offensive power, Jarchow's 3.20
kills per set currently rank fourth in the conference. The 2010
NESCAC Rookie of the Year has posted an average 1.89 digs and 0.65
blocks during her second campaign with the Panthers.
Bowdoin sophomore setter Sophia
Cornew (Portola Valley, Calif.) rounded out the All-NESCAC First
Team. Earning All-Conference accolades for the first time ever,
Cornew is just behind to Tufts' Lord among conference setters with
a 10.02 assist per set average.
Defensive Player of the Year went
to Trinity senior libero Sarah Blagden (Charleston, S.C.). Blagden,
one of four Bantams who saw action in all 103 sets this season,
finished second in the NESCAC in digs per set at 5.80 and also
posted a .816 reception percentage.
Tufts first year middle hitter
Isabel Kuhel (Brisbane, Calif.) was chosen as NESCAC Rookie of the
Year. In her first season with the Jumbos, Kuhel has provided
stellar front-line defense with a NESCAC-best 1.20 blocks per set,
a figure that puts her among the top players nationally. A member
of the Second Team, Kuhel has also contributed 1.74 kills per set
with a .293 attack percentage. Tufts went 9-1 and finished second
in the conference standings before earning a bid to this weekend's
NCAA Tournament.
Karen Corey of Bowdoin was the
choice among her peers, earning Coach of the Year. Now in her sixth
season at the helm of the Polar Bears' program, Corey's squad has
accomplished a lot of firsts this fall. Bowdoin completed the
conference slate 10-0 and finished atop the standings for the first
time ever, won a program-best 17 matches in a row from Sept. 10 to
Oct. 15, captured its first NESCAC title this past weekend, and
earned its first bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Polar Bears have
an opportunity to add to their school-record 26 victories beginning
Friday during NCAA regional action.
| |
2011 NESCAC Volleyball
All-Conference
|
| First Team |
Institution |
Yr. |
Pos |
Hometown |
Hannah Brickley
|
Trinity |
So. |
OH |
Melrose, Mass. |
| Sophia Cornew |
Bowdoin |
So. |
S |
Portola Valley, Calif. |
| Kristin Hanczor |
Bowdoin |
Sr. |
MB |
Redding, Conn. |
| Jane Handel |
Middlebury |
Sr. |
OH |
Evanston, Ill. |
| Megan Jarchow |
Middlebury |
So. |
OH |
Cos Cob, Conn. |
| Kendall Lord |
Tufts |
Jr. |
S |
La Jolla, Calif. |
| Amy Newman |
Connecticut College
|
Sr. |
OH |
Los Angeles, Calif. |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Second Team |
Institution |
Yr. |
Pos |
Hometown |
| Caitlin Barrett |
Middlebury |
Jr. |
L |
Medfield, Mass. |
| Sarah Blagden |
Trinity |
Sr. |
L |
Charleston, S.C. |
| Julia Gibbs |
Middlebury |
Jr. |
S |
Houston, Texas |
| Audrey Kuan |
Tufts |
Sr. |
L |
Los Altos, Calif. |
| Isabel Kuhel |
Tufts |
Fy. |
MH |
Brisbane, Calif. |
| Claire Miller |
Williams |
Fy. |
OH |
Wilmette, Ill. |
| Cara Spieler |
Tufts |
Sr. |
OPP |
Santa Barbara, Calif. |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Co-Players of the Year |
|
|
|
Kristin Hanczor
|
Bowdoin |
Sr. |
MB |
Redding, Conn.
|
| Kendall Lord |
Tufts |
Jr. |
S |
La Jolla, Calif. |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Defensive Player of the Year
|
|
|
|
Sarah Blagden
|
Trinity |
Sr. |
L |
Charleston, S.C.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Rookie of the Year
|
|
|
|
|
Isabel Kuhel
|
Tufts |
Fy. |
MH |
Brisbane, Calif.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| Coach of the Year |
|
|
|
|
Karen Corey
|
Bowdoin |
