NEW YORK - The BIG EAST Conference announced its annual volleyball all-conference and major award winners on Wednesday, preceding the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship presented by Jeep, which will take place Nov. 29-30 in Milwaukee, Wis. Creighton led the way with three of the four major honorees. Bluejay senior Brittany Witt was named Libero of the Year for the second time while teammate Keeley Davis was unanimously selected as Freshman of the Year and the Bluejays staff, headed by Kirsten Bernthal Booth, earned Coaching Staff of the Year accolades for the third time. Marquette senior Allie Barber was unanimously selected as the 2019 BIG EAST Player of the Year for the second time in three years.
Along with the major awards, the BIG EAST announced the all-conference team and the all-conference freshman team. Fourteen of the 18 All-BIG EAST honorees and three of six All-Freshman honorees will be competing in the BIG EAST Championship that starts Friday with the semifinals at the Al McGuire Center. All four BIG EAST Championship teams - Creighton, Marquette, St. John's and Villanova - were represented on the All-BIG EAST Team.
BIG EAST Player of the Year Allie Barber was a unanimous choice among the league's head coaches and is one of eight unanimous selections to the All-BIG EAST Team. The senior earned Player of the Year honors as a sophomore in 2017 after being named BIG EAST Co-Freshman of the Year in 2016. Barber is just the fourth woman in 30 years to claim BIG EAST Player of the Year honors more than once. The Cedarburg, Wis., native led the conference with 4.61 kills per set all matches, and 4.52 kills in BIG EAST matches and was fourth, hitting at a .313 clip. She was second in points per set tallying 4.78. The outside hitter was BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week six times this season. Barber has been recognized on the All-BIG EAST team all four years of her collegiate career.
Witt earned Libero of the Year honors for the second time in the last three seasons, after a stellar campaign that saw the senior lead the conference in digs per set both overall and in league play. She ranks 23rd nationally with 5.11 digs per set and is nine digs from being the first player in program history with four different seasons of 500 or more digs. Witt has had nine digs or more in all 28 matches this fall and is just 30 digs from passing Kate Elman as the Creighton career leader in digs. This is the second time that the Omaha native has brought home All-BIG EAST honors, having also been honored in 2017 when she was first named BIG EAST Libero of the Year.
Davis was a unanimous selection as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, which comes as no surprise for Highlands Ranch, Colo., native who earned 10-of-13 possible honors as BIG EAST Freshman of the Week. Davis leads all BIG EAST freshmen and ranks among the top 10 players in the conference in points per set, kills per set and aces per set in league play. Davis, who also leads CU with 3.29 kills per set, was named AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 15, three days after recording 31 kills in a road win at then-No. 10 Marquette. Davis has 18 matches with 10 more kills this season and is second on the Bluejay squad with 31 aces this fall. Davis was also a unanimous selection to the conference's All-Freshman Team.
Creighton's Kirsten Bernthal Booth leads the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year for the third time, having also been recognized in 2015 and 2016. She directed a team that was picked to finish second in the league's preseason poll to an unprecedented sixth consecutive outright regular-season title. The Bluejays went 24-4 overall in the regular season against a rigorous schedule, including a 17-1 mark in league play. Creighton owns four wins over top-15 teams this season and enters the BIG EAST Championship ranked 10
th in the latest AVCA Poll. Booth holds a 114-10 record in BIG EAST regular season action and an 11-1 record in BIG EAST Championship play. Booth is assisted by Angie Oxley Behrens, Craig Dyer and Noel Carpio. Micah Rhodes serves as Director of Operations and Brian Hurler is the program's graduate manager and technical coordinator.
No. 1 seed Creighton had the most players on the All-BIG EAST Team with five. In addition to Witt and Davis, senior setter Madelyn Cole, senior middle blocker Megan Ballenger and sophomore pin hitter Jaela Zimmerman Winters earned All-BIG EAST Team accolades. Cole, Ballenger and Witt were unanimous selections while Zimmerman earns her first career accolade
Second-seeded Marquette boasts three on the All-BIG EAST team including unanimous selection Allie Barber as well as libero Martha Konovodoff and outside hitter Hope Werch. Konovodoff was named to the All-BIG EAST second team in 2018 while Hope Werch was named Freshman of the Year in 2017.
No. 3 seed Villanova had three named to the All-BIG EAST team including senior setter Emma Decker, senior middle blocker Allie Olsonoski and sophomore middle blocker Sophia Howling. This marks the first honor for all three Wildcats.
St. John's boasts three unanimous selections to the All-BIG EAST Team. Senior setter Erica Di Maulo earned her fourth All-BIG EAST honor while Rachele Rastelli earns her first career accolade. Efrosini Alexakou, 2018 Freshman of the Year and All-BIG EAST First Team member, returns for her second career accolade.
Also on the All-BIG EAST team is Butler senior middle blocker Brooke Gregory and sophomore middle blocker Melody Davidson. Davidson was second in BIG EAST play with an average of 1.21 blocks per set. DePaul placed two on the All-BIG EAST team as senior outside hitter Brittany Maxwell was a unanimous selection and earns her third career All-BIG EAST recognition. Donna Brown joins teammate Maxwell on the All-BIG EAST team for her first career conference accolade.
Six members of the 2018 All-BIG EAST teams were recognized in 2019.
In its first year, the All-BIG EAST Freshman team is led by unanimous selections Keeley Davis of Creighton and Hannah Vanden Berg of Marquette. Georgetown's Peyton Wilhite, Providence's Jennifer Leitman, Villanova's Kathleen Johnson and Xavier's Lauren Hanlon round out the inaugural All-BIG EAST Freshman team.
The 2019 BIG EAST regular season awards and all-conference teams are listed below. The all-league teams are listed alphabetically by school.
The All-BIG EAST team, All-BIG EAST Freshman team and major awards were voted on by the league's 10 head coaches. The coaches could not cast ballots for their own team or players.
2019 BIG EAST Volleyball Regular Season Awards
BIG EAST Player of the Year
Allie Barber, Marquette, Sr., OH ^
BIG EAST Libero of the Year
Brittany Witt, Creighton, Sr., L
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Keeley Davis, Creighton, Fr., OH ^
Coaching Staff of the Year
Creighton (Head Coach: Kirsten Bernthal Booth)
All-BIG EAST Team
(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Melody Davidson, Butler, So., MB
Brooke Gregory, Butler, Sr., MB
Megan Ballenger, Creighton, Sr., MB ^
Madelyn Cole, Creighton, Sr., S ^
Keeley Davis, Creighton, Fr., OH
Brittany Witt, Creighton, Sr., L ^
Jaela Zimmerman, Creighton, So., OH
Donna Brown, DePaul, So., MB
Brittany Maxwell, DePaul, Sr., OH ^
Allie Barber, Marquette, Sr., OH ^
Martha Konovodoff, Marquette, Jr., L
Hope Werch, Marquette, Jr., OH
Efrosini Alexakou, St. John's, So., OH ^
Erica Di Maulo, St. John's, Sr., S ^
Rachele Rastelli, St. John's, So., RS ^
Emma Decker, Villanova, Sr., S
Sophia Howling, Villanova, So., MB
Allie Olsonoski, Villanova, Sr., MB
All-BIG EAST Freshman Team
(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Keeley Davis, Creighton, Fr., OH ^
Peyton Wilhite, Georgetown, Fr., RS
Hannah Vanden Berg, Marquette, Fr., OH ^
Jennifer Leitman, Providence, Fr., OH
Kathleen Johnson, Villanova, Fr., RS
Lauren Hanlon, Xavier, Fr., RS
^ - denotes unanimous selection