2013 Volleyball All-Conference Team
All three Big West Conference champions were recognized among the top honors handed out today as part of the 2013 All-Big West accolades. University of Hawai’i senior Emily Hartong collected her second straight Big West Volleyball Player of the Year award and UC Santa Barbara’s Ali Spindt was named Big West Freshman of the Year. For the second consecutive year Big West Co-Coach of the Year honors were handed out, this time to Cal State Northridge captain Jeff Stork and UC Santa Barbara leader Nicole Lantagne Welch.
Hartong guided Hawai’i to a share of its second straight Big West Conference championship with a 13-3 mark. The 6-foot, 2-inch outside hitter paced the league and ranked eighth in the nation with a 4.64 kill average, while hitting .289 on the season. She also tallied a league-leading 5.19 points per set average to place ninth in the country. Over the course of the season the Los Alamitos, Calif., native collected three Big West Player of the Week awards to increase her career total to seven. Her first honor of the season came the first week of the season after leading the Rainbow Wahine to a victory over No. 1 Texas, their first win over a No. 1-ranked opponent since knocking off UCLA in 2000. With this year’s honor, Hartong becomes Hawai’i’s seventh Big West Player of the Year recipient and the second Rainbow Wahine to win the award twice as Teee Williams-Sanders nabbed the honor in 1988 and 1989.
In her first season representing UC Santa Barbara, Spindt posted a 2.83 kills per set average while hitting .243. She also ranks second on the team with a 2.94 dig average and a 3.2 points per set average. The outside hitter from Menlo Park, Calif., was named Big West Player of the Week on Nov. 18 after leading the Gauchos to a 2-0, which included a five-set victory over league-leading Northridge that placed the Gauchos in contention of the conference crown. For the weekend, she averaged 4.00 kills, 3.38 digs and 0.25 service aces per set. Spindt is the second consecutive Gaucho to garner freshman of the year honors as Taylor Formico nabbed the award in 2012.
For the second time in three years Stork captured Big West Coach of the Year honors. The 2013 season has become a memorable one for the Matadors as they claimed a share of their first-ever Big West volleyball championship with a 13-3 record, their highest win total since joining the Big West in 2001. They also received an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament to make their first appearance since the 2004 season. In his 12th season at the helm of the Northridge program, Stork led the squad to a 23-6 overall record, its highest win total since the team posted a 23-8 mark in 1994.
In her first season at the helm of the Gauchos, Lantagne Welch guided the Gauchos to a share of their first conference title since 2005 when they shared the title with Long Beach State. UC Santa Barbara is set to compete in its first NCAA Tournament since 2009 thanks to earning the league’s automatic qualifier due to a head-to-head tiebreaker against Cal State Northridge and Hawai’i. The Gauchos got off to a shaky start in 2013, posting a 5-9 mark with three of those losses coming against top 10 opponents. As conference play approached, they turned things around and went on to tally an impressive 13-3 record, which included wins over nationally-ranked Hawai’i and Cal State Northridge. This is the first time UC Santa Barbara has earned the coach of the year distinction since Kathy Gregory collected the award in 2009.
Six teams were represented on the first team with UC Santa Barbara and Hawai’i leading the pack with four selection apiece, while Cal State Northridge received three nods. Long Beach State and UC Davis each received two honors while Cal Poly earned one selection.
Cal State Northridge duo junior Casey Hinger and senior Sydney Gedryn are making their third appearance on the first-team list. Natalie Allen (Cal State Northridge), Devon Damelio (UC Davis), Emily Hartong (Hawai’i), Chisom Okpala (Long Beach State), Leah Sully (UC Santa Barbara) and Mita Uiato (Hawai’i) appear on the elite list for a second time.