BOSTON – On the heels of winnings its first-ever America East volleyball regular-season title, Binghamton earned a pair of major awards to headline the 2022 #AEVB award winners.
 
The Bearcats’ Tsvetelina Ilieva was unanimously chosen player of the year while the Binghamton coaching staff earned Coaching Staff of the Year honors. Student-athletes from the other three America East Championship participants took home the other three major awards with UMBC’s Aysia Miller named Defensive Specialist of the Year, Bryant’s Mia Cergol tabbed Setter of the Year and UNH’s Kara Oxenknecht voted Rookie of the Year.
 
The All-Conference teams, All-Rookie team and major awards were determined in a vote by the league’s six head coaches who could not vote for their own players. The All-Academic team was voted on by a committee of administrators from the conference’s member institutions.
 
Full Awards Listing
 
2022 #AEVB Major Awards
Player of the Year
Tsvetelina Ilieva, Jr., Binghamton

• Unanimous selection as Player of the Year.
• Led the league in both kills (4.3 kps) and points (4.8 pps) per set during conference play.
• Second overall with 4.4 points per set and third with 3.8 kills per set.
• Just the second Bearcat ever to earn Player of the Year honors and first since Gaby Alicea in 2017.
• Also a first-team All-Conference selection.

Setter of the Year
Mia Cergol, Sr., Bryant

• Second in the conference in assists in conference play averaging 10.4 per set.
• Also contributed 2.3 digs per set.
• Twice named America East Setter of the Week.
• Also a first-team All-Conference and All-Academic selection.

 
Defensive Specialist of the Year
Aysia Miller, Jr., UMBC

• Led the conference with 4.2 digs per set.
• Helped UMBC hold opponents to a .160 hitting percentage in conference matches.
• Just the second player in league history to earn both Setter and Defensive Specialist of Year honors during her career.
• Also a second-team All-Conference and All-Academic selection

 
Rookie of the Year
Kara Oxenknecht, Fr., New Hampshire

• Fourth in the league in hitting percentage (.311) and fifth in blocks (1.1 bps).
• First Wildcat to earn Rookie of the Year honors since 2000 and just the second in program history.
• Was named Rookie of the Week four times this season, including three of the last six weeks.
• Lone rookie to earn first-team All-Conference honors and was also an All-Rookie selection.

Coaching Staff of the Year
Binghamton

• In her first year as head coach, Allie Yeager led Binghamton to its first-ever America East regular-season title.
• The Bearcats have improved by 10 wins from 2021.
• The team leads the league in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage and blocks.
• Yaeger is assisted by CJ Werneke on the bench.

 
Binghamton led the way with five All-Conference selections while UMBC had four, Bryant had three and UNH had two.
   
Another strong freshman class includes three All-Rookie selections who were also named to All-Conference teams.
 
Nine student-athletes were named to All-Academic Team with eight of those selections also earning All-Conference honors.
 
The #AEVB Championship begins this Saturday at Binghamton with semifinal action. New Hampshire faces Binghamton in the first match at 1 p.m. while Bryant takes on UMBC in the second semifinal at 4 p.m. Full schedule along with streaming and story links can be found at the Championship Central.

About America East: The America East provides its member schools and their athletic programs a platform upon which student-athletes can achieve both collegiate and life success through the promotion and nurturing of athletic excellence, academic achievement and leadership, on and off the field.