CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--Stony Brook senior outside hitter Jackie Ahlers received the maximum six first-place votes from the conference’s head coaches (coaches were not permitted to vote for their own players) to become the 2007 America East Volleyball Player of the Year. Albany’s freshman outside hitter Amanda Cowdrey also received unanimous recognition en route to Rookie of the Year honors. Stony Brook senior Kaitlyn Deutsch and New Hampshire sophomore Alyse Lahti received setter and defensive specialist of the year awards, respectively, while head coach of the top-seeded Seawolves, Deborah Matejka-DesLauriers earned this season’s coach of the year. All awards and all-conference teams were presented at the America East Championship banquet in Port Jefferson Station, N.Y. on Friday, November 16. Click here for full PDF release.
Ahlers (Stony Point, N.Y./St. John’s University) is the first Seawolf to receive the player of the year since Stony Brook joined the conference. The senior played in every game of every match for the Seawolves this season, dominating opponents. Ahlers finished first in the conference with 5.04 kills per game and 5.58 points per game, and ended the regular season with the conference’s second-best hitting percentage of .339. The transfer from St. John’s also registered 23 service aces and 71 blocks in 2007, leading Stony Brook to this year’s number one seed in the conference championship.
Cowdrey (Brampton, Ontario/Cardinal Leger) is the first Great Dane to win the yearly rookie accolade since Ashley DeNeal in 2003, with Cowdrey and DeNeal repesenting the only two to do so. Cowdrey won rookie of the week on four occasions this season, leading all freshmen in kills per game (3.47) and points per game (4.01). The Canada native was also eighth in the conference with 3.43 digs per game as a 26-match starter for Albany.
Deutsch (St. Louis, Mo./Southern Mississippi) leads America East in total assists (1,382) and assists per game (12.23) entering the tournament this weekend. She sat out just one game all season for Stony Brook, playing in all 30 matches. Deutsch also added 2.42 digs per game, 25 service aces and more than one kill per game to her senior resume in 2007.
Lahti (Pepper Pike, Ohio/Orange), an all-rookie selection last year, was the only Wildcat to play in all 100 games this season. The sophomore led the conference with 4.78 digs per game, totaling 478 on the season. Lahti also served up 28 aces this season. Her defensive efforts stifled opponent’s hitting percentage to a mere .159 and led New Hampshire to their first conference championship appearance since 2003.
In her eighth year leading Stony Brook, Matejka-DesLauriers has coached the Seawolves into the America East Volleyball Championship five out of the last six years, this year as the top seed. This season, Matejka-DesLauriers’ team leads the conference in hitting percentage, kills, assists, aces and wins.
Joining Ahlers and Deutsch on the all-conference first-team is Albany’s junior middle blocker Kamisha Kellam (Forestville, Md./Bishop McNamara), Binghamton’s senior middle blocker Jacki Kane (Centennial, Colo./Grandview), New Hampshire’s sophomore right side hitter Kirsten Bates (Calgary, Alberta/Bishop Carroll), senior outside hitter Emmy Blouin (St. Albert, Alberta/Paul Kane), and Stony Brook’s senior outiside hitter Morgan Sweany (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley).
Kellam was a top-ten conference leader in hitting percentage (.322), kills (3.27 kpg), and points (3.94 ppg). Both Sweany and Bates can boast a trifecta of the kill, ace, point variety. Kane led America East all season long with 1.57 blocks per game and 182 total blocks. Blouin, who moved into third-place on the Wildcat’s all-time career kills list this season, averaged 3.79 kills per game and 4.28 points per game for third- and fourth-best in the conference, respectively.
On the second-team alongside Cowdrey and Lahti are Albany’s senior middle blocker Ashley Crenshaw (Birmingham, Ala./Hoover), UMBC’s sophomore outside hitter Ashley Oscars (Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty), New Hampshire’s sophomore setter Kate Uitti (Pinckney Mich./Pinckney), senior middle blocker Jessica Compton (Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove South), and Stony Brook’s junior libero Noelle Bay (Selden, N.Y./Newfield).
Crenshaw was the most efficient hitter in America East, hitting at a conference-best .344 and averaging 3.42 kills per game. Compton ranked fifth hitting at a .297 clip. Oscars and Crenshaw both ranked among the top ten in kills and points. Oscars averaged 3.60 kills and 4.12 points per game, while Crenshaw averaged 3.42 kills and 4.15 points per game. The specialists, Uitti and Bay, each ranked high in the conference rankings. Uitti averaged 11.99 assists per game, second only to Deutsch, and Bay ranked fourth in digs with 4.34 digs per game.
The all-rookie team is Albany’s Cowdrey, setter Brooke Stanley (Hendersonville, N.C./West Henderson), libero Tawny Dahmes (Chaska, Minn./Chaska), Binghamton’s setter Lindsey Mueller (West Bend, Wis./West Bend West), middle blocker Michelle McDonough (Orland Hills, Ill/Andrew), UMBC’s middle blocker Bridget Scheetz (St. Louis, Mo./Ursuline Academy), and outside hitter Sabrina Hoeks (Olympia, Wash./AG West Black Hills).
Thirteen of the all-conference first and second team honorees will be in action at Stony Brook University’s campus this weekend for the 2007 America East Volleyball Championship. Number one seeded Stony Brook will square-off against the four seed Binghamton at 1 p.m. on Saturday, November 17, and second-seeded New Hampshire faces third-seeded Albany at 3:30 p.m. The winners of the two semifinals will meet for an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, November 18 at 1 p.m. Albany defeated UMBC, 3-2, in last year’s thrilling, five-game final.