Albany, N.Y. — University at Albany junior Blair Buchanan took home Player of the Year and Setter of the Year accolades at America East’s annual awards banquet on Thursday night while her teammate Ashley DeNeal garnered Defensive Specialist of the Year honors as well. UMBC’s Sarah Ball was honored as Rookie of the Year. Binghamton head coach Glenn Kiriyama was recognized as the Coach of the Year. All voting was conducted by the conference’s head coaches.
Complete All-Conference Team Breakdown (PDF)
Buchanan, a 5-10 setter, is the spark to the conference’s most efficient offense for the second consecutive year. She is only the second player in conference history to repeat as the Player of the Year (Alyson Coler, New Hampshire 2002, 2003). Additionally, she is the first player in NCAA history to win both Player of the Year and Setter of the Year in the same season twice. Buchanan was a unanimous vote for Setter of the Year. She led the Great Danes with her impressive .344 hitting percentage and 12.31 assists per game. In the conference season alone, she averaged .377 hitting percentage and 12.87 apg.
DeNeal, a 5-8 libero, ranks first in the league in digs (5.28 dpg) and fourth in service aces (.46). The junior was a unanimous selection for this honor. She the Great Danes in digs and was second in service aces. In addition to being one of the conferences top middle hitters, she is also a inaugural member of the America East All-Academic team. She currently ranks third in digs in a season in Albany’s all-time leaders.
Ball, a unanimous selection, ranked third in the conference for both points (4.45 ppg) and kills (3.81). The outside hitter for UMBC earned seven Rookie of the Week honors this season and led the Retrievers in kills.
Kiriyama, in his seventh season at the helm, led Binghamton to an 18-11 (10-2 America East) record this season. Since joining the conference in 2002, his team has qualified for the tournament twice and compiled an impressive 119-95 record. The Bearcats also posted top performers in six of the seven statistic categories.
Buchanan and DeNeal are joined on the All-Conference team by Albany’s Shelby Goldman, Ashley Hunter and Ashlee Reed, Binghamton’s Katie Brody and Jackie Kane, Maine’s Shannan Fotter, Kaili Jordan, and Shelly Seipp, Erin Walker of New Hampshire and Morgan Sweany of Stony Brook. Albany’s five players on the first team is a conference record.
Sweany and Goldman led the leauge in kills with 4.28 and 3.95, respectively. Sweany was also at the top of the list in points per game with 4.7. Kane was the top blocker this season with 1.36 bpg.
Ball is joined on the Honorable Mention squad by Albany’s Ashley Crenshaw, Binghamton’s Megan Hoag and Ashley Meffert, Leah Guidinger of Maine and New Hampshire’s Emmy Blouin.
Ball also earned All-Rookie honors. Also on the squad are Binghamton’s Brianna Strong, Maine’s Lindsay Allman and Amy Lawson, UMBC’s Ashley Hargrove and New Hampshire’s Caitlin Dowd.
Eleven of the 12 all-conference selections will be in action at the 2005 America East Volleyball Championship held at Albany’s University Gymnasium. No. 1 Albany plays No. 4 Stony Brook at 5:30 p.m. Friday (November 18) in the first semifinal, while No. 2 Binghamton faces No. 3 Maine at 8 p.m. in the second semifinal. The winners advance to the America East Championship game on Saturday at 5 p.m. The winner of the America East Championship receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Volleyball Championship.
This weekend’s championship can be followed on the internet through Championship LIVE! on AmericaEast.com.