NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Conference announced its annual volleyball all-conference and major award winners Tuesday, preceding the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship presented by JEEP, which will take place Nov. 23-26 in Omaha, Neb. Creighton’s Norah Sis headlines the annual awards, earning BIG EAST Player of the Year recognition. Sis’s Bluejay teammate, Ava Martin, is the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year. Butler’s Jaymeson Kinley repeats as the BIG EAST Libero of the Year. Top-seeded Marquette’s Yadhira Anchante is the BIG EAST Setter of the Year.
Along with the major awards, the BIG EAST announced an 18-person All-BIG EAST team and a six-person All-Freshman team. Sixteen of the 18 All-BIG EAST honorees, and five of six All-Freshman honorees, will compete in the BIG EAST Championship, beginning on Wednesday at Creighton’s D.J. Sokol Arena. All six BIG EAST Championship teams – Butler, UConn, Creighton, Marquette, St. John’s and Xavier – were represented on the All-BIG EAST Team.
After earning BIG EAST Freshman of the Year accolades last season, Norah Sis becomes the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Year. She leads the league in both kills and points, averaging 4.19 and 4.61, respectively. In 100 total sets played, the native of Papillion, Neb., logged 419 kills and 461 points. Throughout conference play, Sis totaled 214 kills (4.46) and 270 points (5.00). The 2022 BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year secured three BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week nods and was named MVP of the Rumble in the Rockies tournament in August. Sis’s dominant offensive stance has been bolstered by 248 digs, 44 blocks, and 16 service aces.
Jaymeson Kinley repeats as BIG EAST Libero of the Year after leading the BIG EAST in digs for the second consecutive season. Overall, she recorded 596 digs, averaging 5.42 per set. Within conference competition, the Lexington, Ky., product posted 388 digs (5.71). The Top Dawg tournament MVP ranks 10
th in the NCAA for digs per set. Over 110 sets, Kinley contributed 95 assists and 17 service aces.
Yadhira Anchante, a two-time NJCAA Division I Player of the Year, earns BIG EAST Setter of the Year recognition during her first stint with the Golden Eagles. Originally from Lima, Peru, she’s tied for first for assists in conference play, averaging 11.35 (681). Overall, Anchante ranks second in the BIG EAST with 1062 assists over 98 sets (10.84). The sophomore was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week twice this year, earning the recognition in both the first (9/26) and (11/21) last weeks of conference play.
Creighton’s Ava Martin is the BIG EAST Freshman of the Year after appearing in 93 sets over her rookie campaign. A native of Overland Park, Kan., Martin logged 221 kills, hitting .256, with 236.5 points, 67 digs and 25 blocks. The No. 47 recruit out of high school, Martin was recognized as the BIG EAST Freshman of the Week four times (9/26, 10/3, 10/17, 11/14). She is the third Bluejay in four seasons to collect Freshman of the Year accolades.
In her eighth season at the Musketeers’ helm, Christy Pfeffenberger leads the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. Xavier makes its first appearance in the BIG EAST Championship since 2016, collecting the No. 3 seed with an 18-10 overall record and 11-7 conference mark. In 2022, the Musketeers logged six sweeps against BIG EAST opponents. Under the Xavier staff’s tutelage senior setter Carrigan O’Reilly earned unanimous All-BIG EAST recognition. O’Reilly was named BIG EAST Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 19; teammates Lucia Corsaro and Angel Robinson garnered Defensive Player of the Week accolades on Oct. 24 and Nov. 14, respectively.
Top-seeded Marquette collects the most all-conference nods with five overall and a pair of unanimous selections. Second-seeded Creighton follows with four including two unanimous awardees. Third-seeded Xavier produced three all-conference players, with one unanimous choice. Both of fourth-seeded St. John’s honorees were decided unanimously. UConn, Butler, Villanova and DePaul are represented by one athlete a piece.
Five teams comprise the All-Freshman squad (Butler, Creighton, DePaul, Marquette, St. John’s). Marquette is the lone program to log two selections in unanimous honoree Hattie Bray and Ella Foti.
The 2022 BIG EAST regular season awards and all-conference teams are listed below. All-Conference teams appear in alphabetical order by team name, last name
The All-BIG EAST team, All-Freshman team and major awards were voted upon by the league’s 11 head coaches. Coaches could not cast ballots for their own team or players. Unanimous selections appeared on all ten eligible ballots.
2022 BIG EAST Volleyball Player of the Year
Norah Sis, Creighton, So., OH
2022 BIG EAST Volleyball Libero of the Year
Jaymeson Kinley, Butler, Jr., L
2022 BIG EAST Volleyball Setter of the Year
Yadhira Anchante, Marquette, So., S
2022 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Ava Martin, Creighton, Fr., OH
2022 BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year
Xavier: Head Coach Christy Pfeffenberger (Eighth Season), Associate Head Coach Ed Tolentino, Assistant Coach Andre Foster, Graduate Assistant Manager Mallory Bechtold, Student Manager Haley Aho
2022 All-BIG EAST Team
*Unanimous selections appear first and are ordered alphabetically by team name, last name.*
Jill Pressly, DePaul, Jr., OH*
Caylee Parker, UConn Sr., OH*
Norah Sis, Creighton, So., OH*
Kendra Wait, Creighton, So., S*
Yadhira Anchante, Marquette, So., S*
Carsen Murray, Marquette, Jr., MB*
Rachele Rastelli, St. John’s, Gr., RS*
Giorgia Walther, St. John’s, So., OH*
Carrigan O’Reilly, Xavier, Sr.,*
Jaymeson Kinley, Jr., L, Butler
Ava Martin, Creighton, Fr., OH
Kiana Schmitt, Creighton, Sr., MB/RS
Hattie Bray, R.S. Fr., Marquette, MB
Aubrey Hamilton, Marquette, Jr., OH
Jenna Reitsma, Marquette, So., OH
Kiera Booth, Villanova, Jr., MB
Brooklyn Cink, Xavier, Sr., OH
Delaney Hogan, Xavier, Jr., MB
2022 All-Freshman Team
Ava Martin, Creighton, Fr., OH*
Hattie Bray, R.S. Fr., Marquette, MB*
Cora Taylor, Butler, Fr., S
Taylor Underwood, DePaul, Fr., OH
Ella Foti, Marquette, R.S. Fr., RS
Lucrezia Lodi, St. John’s, Fr., OH
*Denotes a unanimous selection