MAAC Announces 2017 Volleyball All-MAAC Teams & Major Award Winners
FAIRFIELD, CT – The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) announced the 2017 Volleyball All-MAAC Teams and major award winners. Award recipients were honored this evening at the league’s annual volleyball awards show, which was held on the campus of Fairfield University.
Freshman setter Jamie Smith was the first student-athlete from Iona College to take home the MAAC Rookie of the Year award since Rachelle Wilson in 2008. Smith was named MAAC Rookie of the Week six times this season, the most since Siena’s Hayley Howell claimed the honor six times in 2013. The freshman leads all MAAC rookies in points (375.0), ranks second in kills (306), tied for second in kills per set (2.51), tied for third in service aces (27), sixth in digs (235), and eighth in digs per set (1.93).
Manuela Nicolini was the first student-athlete from Fairfield to win the MAAC Setter of the Year award since Rachel Romansky in 2013. The setter leads the MAAC in assists per set (10.31) and ranks second in total assists (1,062). The sophomore recorded a league-high 63 assists in five sets on October 1. She also notched a top-five assist performance on August 26, when she dished out 53, the fifth-most in a single match this season. Nicolini was named MAAC Player of the Week on September 26.
Niagara University senior libero Rylee Hunt earned the MAAC Libero of the Year honor for the third consecutive year. Hunt is a nine-time MAAC Libero of the Week and ranks third in the nation in digs per set (6.18) and sixth in total digs (630). Hunt’s 630 digs are the seventh most in a single-season in MAAC history. She has recorded 20 or more digs a total of 20 times this season and notched a total of 42 on October 1, the most in a single-match in the league. The senior has registered seven of the 10 highest single-match dig totals this season.
Fairfield senior outside hitter Skyler Day claimed the MAAC Player of the Year award for the second year in a row. She is the first MAAC Volleyball student-athlete to claim consecutive Player of the Year honors since Siena’s Burgundy McCurty earned the Offensive Player of the Year award (2007-09). Day leads the MAAC in kills per set (3.77), ranks second in points per set (4.09), third in points (384.5), and third in kills (354). The senior was named MAAC Player of the Week three times this season (October 24, October 3, August 29).
Stags’ Head Coach Todd Kress earned the BSN Sports MAAC Coach of the Year honor for the third consecutive year. Kress guided Fairfield to its third-straight MAAC Regular Season Championship and 17
th in program history. The Stags finished the regular season (23-6, 18-0 MAAC) and are currently on a 19-game winning streak. Fairfield has completed back-to-back undefeated runs in MAAC play and has won 49-straight games against MAAC opponents (including postseason and non-conference meetings). The streak is the longest active in the nation and is tied with the Stags’ run of 49-straight from 1997-01.
| Major Award Winners |
| Name |
Award |
Institution |
| Jamie Smith |
Rookie of the Year |
Iona |
| Manuela Nicolini |
Setter of the Year |
Fairfield |
| Rylee Hunt |
Libero of the Year |
Niagara |
| Skyler Day |
Player of the Year |
Fairfield |
| Todd Kress |
BSN Sports MAAC Coach of the Year |
Fairfield |
| All-MAAC First Team |
| Name |
Position |
Institution |
| Skyler Day |
OH |
Fairfield |
| Manuela Nicolini |
S |
Fairfield |
| Claire Archibald |
OH |
Iona |
| Nikki DeSerpa |
OH |
Marist |
| Draik Banks |
MB/RS |
Niagara |
| Rylee Hunt |
L |
Niagara |
| Hailey Riede |
RS |
Rider |
| All-MAAC Second Team |
| Name |
Position |
Institution |
| Sara Wesley |
MB |
Canisius |
| Megan Theiller |
OH |
Fairfield |
| Kelsey Ediger |
OH |
Marist |
| Nicole Matheis |
OH |
Niagara |
| Natalie Alechko |
OH |
Quinnipiac |
| Veronica Koval |
S |
Rider |
| Sam Pethokoukis |
OH |
Siena |
| MAAC All-Rookie Team |
| Name |
Position |
Institution |
| Claire Leonard |
OH/MB |
Canisius |
| Luci Albertson |
MB |
Fairfield |
| Kaylie Butts |
MB |
Fairfield |
| Jamie Smith |
S |
Iona |
| Grace Hetterscheidt |
MB |
Niagara |
| Jaycie Roberts |
DS/OH |
Niagara |
| Dakota Jackson |
OH |
Siena |
About the 2017 MAAC Volleyball Championship:
The 2017 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Volleyball Championship takes place, November 17-19, and returns to George Bisacca Court at Alumni Hall on the campus of Fairfield University for the second year in a row. The entire 2017 MAAC Volleyball Championship is set to air on ESPN3 for the second-straight year.
For more information on the 2017 MAAC Volleyball Championship, visit
maacsports.com/vb and be sure to follow the action on social media by using #MAACVB. Tickets can be purchased at
maac.ticketleap.com.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 37
th year of competition during the 2017-18 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter's University, and Siena College.