St. John’s Efrosini Alexakou Named BIG EAST Player of the Year; Villanova’s Averi Salvador Earns Libero of the Year and Xavier’s Delaney Hogan Named Freshman of the Year.
Providence’s coaching staff led by Margot Royer-Johnson earns the Coaching Staff of the Year awards.
NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Conference announced its annual volleyball all-conference and major award winners on Thursday, preceding the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship presented by JEEP, which will take place April 2-3 in Omaha, Neb. St. John’s junior outside hitter Efrosini Alexakou was voted the BIG EAST Player of the Year, while Villanova grad student Averi Salvador was named Libero of the Year. The Freshman of the Year went to Xavier’s Delaney Hogan and Coaching Staff of the Year accolades went to Providence, led by Margot Royer-Johnson.
Alexakou was also the preseason selection for player of the year. The Thessaloniki, Greece native tied with her teammate Rachele Rastelli for the BIG EAST lead in kills per set with 4.31. Alexakou was also second in points per set with 4.60. Alexakou was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll twice this season (Feb. 6 and March 31). She also became the 11th player in program history to reach to join the 1,000-kill club on March 12 in the Johnnies' four-set win over Seton Hall. The junior outside hitter is the first player to record 1,000 career kills since Julia Cast in 2017. St. John’s led the league in hitting at .254 and kills (14.21). Behind Alexakou, also a unanimous All-BIG EAST selection, the Red Storm earned the No. 1 seed in the East Division. Alexakou is St. John’s first BIG EAST Player of the Year since 2008. She is the third for the Red Storm along with Wioleta Leszczynska (2008) and Hui Ping Huang (2007).
Villanova’s Salvador led the league in totals dig in conference matches with 131 total, averaging 4.37 a set. In the opening match against Seton Hall the libero had a career high 26 digs. She had 20 or more digs in two more matches, against St. John’s and Providence. Salvador also finished with 13 service aces over the 30 sets she played in. Salvador is the first Wildcat to be named BIG EAST Libero of the Year since 2011. Salvador is also a member of the All-BIG EAST team. Salavador is Villanova’s third Libero of the Year. Kim Maroon earned the award in back-to-back seasons (2010-2011).
Hogan hit .337 for Xavier in her debut season, with 131 kills, 157.0 points and 45.0 total blocks. The Fort Wayne, Ind. native averaged 2.58 kills and 3.86 points per set for the season. Hogan, a middle blocker for the Musketeers, was a unanimous pick for the BIG EAST All-Freshman team and was also BIG EAST Freshman of the Week three times this past season. Hogan ranked sixth in the league in conference hitting percentage (.308). Eight times this season, Hogan notched 10 or more kills in a match. Hogan is Xavier’s first Freshman of the Year.
Providence, led by Royer-Johnson, qualified for the BIG EAST tournament for the first time since 1999. Royer-Johnson and her staff finished second in the East Division with a 5-3 record in divisional play and a 7-3 record overall. Providence was picked to finish fifth in the preseason coaches’ poll, but instead, the Friars swept series against Villanova and UConn and split with Seton Hall. The Friars have been under the tutelage of Royer-Johnson since 2000. It is Royer-Johnson’s first Coach of the Year honor. An original member of the BIG EAST Conference, Providence played as an Independent from 2003-2009, before spending the 2010-13 seasons in the America East. The Friars rejoined the BIG EAST in 2014
The BIG EAST regular season awards and all-conference team and all-freshman team 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 head coaches. The coaches could not cast ballots for their own team or players.
BIG EAST Volleyball Regular Season Awards
BIG EAST Player of the Year
Efrosini Alexakou, St. John’s, Jr., OH
BIG EAST Libero of the Year
Averi Salvador, Villanova, Grad Student, L/DS
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Delaney Hogan, Xavier, Fr., MB
Coaching Staff of the Year
Providence (Head Coach: Margot Royer-Johnson)
All-BIG EAST Team
(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Melody Davidson, Butler, RS-Jr., MB
Caylee Parker, UConn, Jr., OH ^
Keeley Davis, Creighton, So., OH
Naomi Hickman, Creighton, Sr., MB ^
Jaela Zimmerman, Creighton, Jr., OH ^
Savannah Rennie, Marquette, Gr., MB
Hope Werch, Marquette, Sr., OH
Taylor Wolf, Marquette, Sr., RS/S
Allison Barber, Providence, Sr., S
Emma Nelson, Providence, So., OH
Efrosini Alexakou, St. John’s, Jr., OH ^
Tiziana Baumrukova, St. John’s, Sr., S
Rachele Rastelli, St. John’s, Jr., RS ^
Tsvetelina Ilieva, Seton Hall, Fr., OH
Riley Homer, Villanova, Fr., OH
Sophia Howling, Villanova, Jr., MH
Averi Salvador, Villanova, Gr., L/DS
Delaney Hogan, Xavier, Fr., MB
Carrigan O’Reilly, Xavier, So., S
All-BIG EAST Freshman Team
(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Kiara Reinhardt, Creighton, Fr., MB
Jill Pressly, DePaul, Fr., OH ^
Tsvetelina Ilieva, Seton Hall, Fr., OH
Taylor Jakubowski, Seton Hall, Fr., S
Riley Homer, Villanova, Fr., OH
Delaney Hogan, Xavier, Fr., MB ^
^ - denotes unanimous selection