BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The 2014 WAC volleyball award winners, as selected by the league’s eight head coaches, were announced this evening at the WAC Tournament banquet. Missouri-Kansas City junior middle hitter Emma Hagedorn was named WAC Player of the Year, while Grand Canyon’s Natalie Tardy was named WAC Freshman of the Year. UMKC head coach Christi Posey was named WAC Coach of the Year.
Six of the eight schools were represented on the teams, with UMKC leading the way with three first team honorees. Bakersfield had two players on the first team.
Hagedorn earned WAC Player of the Year honors after leading the conference in hitting percentage in WAC matches (.418). She also ranked sixth in blocks per set (1.13) and averaged 2.33 kills per set in WAC play. The junior had five or more blocks in seven WAC matches. Her .347 hitting percentage this season is the second-best in the UMKC record books, while her 113 block assists rank fourth.
Tardy earned Freshman of the Year honors after ranking second in the league in kills (3.58) and third in points (4.06) in WAC matches. She posted five double-doubles in WAC play and had 10 or more kills in 11 of 14 WAC matches.
Posey led her team to its first-ever WAC regular-season title and claimed the top seed in the WAC Tournament with a 12-2 league record. The ‘Roos also set school records for conference wins (12), overall wins (24) and winning streak (17 matches) this season.
The complete teams are listed below.
| First Team |
School |
Yr. |
Pos. |
| Lauren Bakker |
Utah Valley |
Jr. |
MB |
| Sydney Crimmins |
Missouri-Kansas City |
Jr. |
RS |
| Emma Hagedorn |
Missouri-Kansas City |
Jr. |
MH |
| Taryn Miller |
Missouri-Kansas City |
Jr. |
L |
| Molly O’Hagan |
Bakersfield |
Sr. |
MB |
| Martina Samadan |
Seattle U |
Jr. |
MB |
| Danika Youngblood |
Bakersfield |
Sr. |
OH |
| Second Team |
School |
Yr. |
Pos. |
| Nathalie Castellanos |
New Mexico State |
Jr. |
OPP |
| Shannon Dugan |
Grand Canyon |
Sr. |
OH |
| Melissa Hartsel |
Missouri-Kansas City |
Sr. |
MH |
| Luiza Martins |
Bakersfield |
Jr. |
S |
| Gwen Murphy |
New Mexico State |
Jr. |
MH |
| McKenna Tait |
Utah Valley |
Sr. |
L |
| Macky Treanor |
Utah Valley |
So. |
OH |
| All-Freshmen Team |
School |
Pos. |
| Jordan Abalos |
New Mexico State |
OH |
| Sydney Haynes |
Bakersfield |
RS |
| Natalie Tardy |
Grand Canyon |
OH |
| Sasha-Lee Thomas |
New Mexico State |
MH |
| Jelena Vujcin |
Seattle U |
OPP |
| Madison Wolford |
Utah Valley |
MB |
WAC Player of the Year: Emma Hagedorn, Missouri-Kansas City
WAC Freshman of the Year: Natalie Tardy, Grand Canyon
WAC Coach of the Year: Christi Posey, Missouri-Kansas City