University of Maine senior Leah Voss was voted America East Volleyball Player of the Year. University of Hartford's Stephanie Volckers was named Rookie of the Year. Second-year Towson University head coach Chris Riley was named Coach of the Year. Setter of the Year went to Northeastern's Kristin Ursillo, while Lisa Weir of Towson won Defensive Specialist of the Year.
Voss leads the Black Bears in kills with 4.14 kills per game and a conference-high 3.31 digs per game. She was an All-Conference selection last year, in her first season at Maine. Despite playing just two years as a Black Bear, she will graduate with all-time records for both kills and digs.
Volckers had a standout rookie season, leading the America East in kills with 5.6 kills per game while also adding 2.96 digs per game, tied for second in the conference. She was a two-time America East Rookie of the Week honoree as well as earning Player of the Week once.
Riley, in his second season at Towson, has helped dramatically turnaround the Tiger program. A preseason No. 3 pick in America East, he led the Tigers to their best-ever finish with a 28-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming America East Championship.
Ursillo has been the catalyst for the Husky offense, averaging 11.18 assists per game. She recorded first-career triple-double in Northeastern’s tough 3-2 victory over America East rival New Hampshire on Oct. 6 with 11 kills, 54 assists and 15 digs.
Weir helped lead a solid Towson defense to 28 wins and a the No. 1 seed in the championship.
Voss, Volckers and Ursillo, all named to the All-Conference team, are joined by three-time All-Conference honoree Kristin Deatherage of Northeastern. Deatherage averaged 3.41 kills per game. Also on the All-Conference team is University of Albany's Alissa Gibbs who was second in the conference with 5.01 kills per game. Third in the conference in kills per game is Angela Tassone with a 4.87 kpg average. New Hampshire's Alyson Coler, last year's Rookie of the Year, averaged 4.4 kills and 2.73 digs per game. Teammate Bonnie Wilson averaged 3.33 kills and 2.86 digs per game in her rookie season.
Northeastern had four players named to the All-Conference team. Joining Ursillo and Deatherage is Erin Spangler, a repeat honoree who averaged 0.97 blocks per game. Gianina Pellegrini was also honored, averaging 1.11 blocks per game. Towson's Andrea LaBlanc and Liz Goubeaux round out the team. LaBlanc leads the conference in assists with 11.9 apg. She was named Setter of the Week five times this season. Goubeaux was a two-time Rookie of the Week honoree and led the conference in hitting percentage (.373) and blocks (1.31 bpg).
The honorable mention comprises of Maine's Cheryl Elliott and Carmen Gabriel, New Hampshire's Lauren Knight, Debra Falkenberg of Stony Brook, and Towson's Melanie Madden and Sarah Miller.
The All-Rookie team is made up of Volckers, Gabriel, Wilson, Goubeaux, Miller and Valerie Maloy of Stony Brook.
Nine of the 12 all-conference selections as well as five of the honorable mention players will be in action this weekend at the America East Championship at the Towson Center in Towson, Md. The semifinals begin Saturday, November 17 with No. 1 Towson vs. No. 4 Maine at 2:30 p.m. followed by No. 2 Northeastern vs. No. 3 New Hampshire at 4:30 p.m. The championship game will be Sunday at 1 p.m.