Mitchell Collects Final Piece Of Conference Hardware
Allyson Mitchell collects the final piece of her St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference hardware as she is the 2017 Volleyball Player of the Year. Among other honorees receiving awards this fall is her teammate Anna Finch, for Newcomer of the Year; Mia Gill from Principia College for Defensive Player of the Year; and Westminster College coach Natalia Koryzna and Principia College coach Mary Ann Sprague as Co-Coach of the Year.
Mitchell, a senior from Gurnee, Ill., was named the SLIAC Player of the Year, capping a four-year career that included four All-Conference selections and a Newcomer of the Year award. She is just the 8th player in conference history to win both the Newcomer and Player of the Year awards during her career and the first to do so since Jenny Howard in 2012. Mitchell finished first in conference play with 264 kills, averaging 4.13 per set, and also ranked in the top ten in the conference in hitting percentage and service aces. Her 301 points during conference play was also tops. Mitchell is just the third different Panther to win the conference's top award.
Her teammate Anna Finch was named the 2017 SLIAC Newcomer of the Year. Finch, a middle blocker from Moline, Ill., averaged 3.06 kills per set during conference action, hitting a conference-high .442. She finished with 196 kills against conference opponents and ranked in the top ten in blocks. Finch becomes the seventh player in program history to be named the top newcomer.
Principia College's Mia Gill was named the 2017 SLIAC Defensive Player of the Year. Gill, a junior from Elgin, Ill., led the SLIAC in digs and digs per set this fall. She totaled 437 digs during conference play and averaged 6.52 per set; while helping Principia lead all of NCAA Division III in digs per set this season. Gill will go down as the first Principia player to receive the conference's top award for a defensive player.
Natalia Koryzna and Mary Ann Sprague will share honors as the 2017 SLIAC Co-Coaches of the Year. Koryzna led Westminster College to the programs first SLIAC regular season title since 1999. They finished conference play with a 16-2 record and went 20-10 overall during the regular season. She guided the Blue Jays to two separate five-match winning streaks during the year.
Mary Ann Sprague led Principia to a 22-6 overall record and a 14-4 record in the SLIAC. Sprague led Principia to their best start since 2006, including a nine-match winning streak during the year. This marks the fourth time in her career that Sprague has taken home Coach of the Year honors.
The final award handed out by the SLIAC is the Team Sportsmanship Award. This award is presented to the school whose coaches, players, and fans best exemplify the ideals of sportsmanship. This years winner is Spalding University.
| First Team | |||||||
| Name | School | Yr | Hometown/High School | ||||
| Anna Finch | Greenville | Fr | Moline, Ill./Moline | ||||
| Sophia Hathaway | Principia | Jr | South Pasadena, Calif./South Pasadena | ||||
| Ashley Kistaitis | Westminster | So | Lincoln, Neb./Lincoln North Star | ||||
| Hannah Marshall | Westminster | Sr | Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette | ||||
| Allyson Mitchell | Greenville | Sr | Gurnee, Ill./Warren | ||||
| Maria Soffner | Webster | Sr | Creve Coeur, Mo./Incarnate Word | ||||
| Emily Tippetts | Principia | Jr | Austin, Texas/Westwood | ||||
| Second Team | |||||||
| Name | School | Yr | Hometown/High School | ||||
| Teresa Becker | Westminster | So | St. Charles, Mo./Homeschool | ||||
| Anna Crank | Eureka | Sr | Washburn, Ill./Midland | ||||
| Mia Gill | Principia | Jr | Elgin, Ill./Larkin | ||||
| Torie Grassi | Webster | Jr | St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain | ||||
| Devon Marunde | Principia | So | McHenry, Ill./McHenry | ||||
| Bridget Ringwald | Westminster | Jr | St. Louis, Mo./Cor Jesu | ||||
| Olivia Wall | MacMurray | So | St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain | ||||
| Third Team |
|||||||
| Name | School | Yr | Hometown/High School | ||||
| Brittni Bell | Greenville | Sr | Delavan, Ill./Delavan | ||||
| Kristina Eason | Fontbonne | Jr | St. Louis, Mo./Notre Dame | ||||
| Alex Falcone | Greenville | So | Sellersburg, Ind./Silver Creek | ||||
| Abby Freeman | Greenville | Fr | Matteson, Ill./Queen of Peace | ||||
| Kendall Knop | Blackburn | Jr | Strasburg, Ill./Stewardson-Strasburg | ||||
| Natalie Needy | Westminster | Fr | Fenton, Mo./Rockwood Summit | ||||
| Claudia Spivey | Spalding | Fr | Memphis, Tenn./Middle College |
All-Sportsmanship Team
| Name | School | |
| Alexis Dick | Blackburn | |
| Meagan Hanney | Eureka | |
| Victoria Curtice | Fontbonne | |
| Sarah Watts | Greenville | |
| Katie Garcia | Iowa Wesleyan | |
| Caitlyn Hoene | MacMurray | |
| Sarah Ungerleider | Principia | |
| Maddie Rosendaul | Spalding | |
| Hannah Rowold | Webster | |
| Bridget Ringwald | Westminster |
