AAU VOLLEYBALL ALUMNA EARN SEC AWARDS

Written By: Amanda Szylin

At the end of last month, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) announced its annual volleyball awards after the 2014 season was finished. Of the seven athletes that took home 2014 SEC Volleyball Awards, six were former AAU members. Two of those athletes were from the University of Florida, and three others attend Kentucky, Missouri and Texas A&M. The coach of the year went to a face that we’ve seen for several years at the AAU Girls’ Junior National Volleyball Championships, University of Florida Head Coach Mary Wise!

Alex Holston was selected as the 2014 Player of the Year in the SEC. The sophomore right side hitter has helped lead the Gators to win this years’ SEC title and is in the top ten in hitting percentage, kills and points. She has been a consistent presence for the Gators this season, earning SEC Offensive Player of the Week honors three times and being named to the All-SEC team.

Jackie Napper, a senior at Kentucky, earned SEC Libero of the Year honors in 2014. She is fifth in the SEC in digs and 14th in service aces, recording 462 digs in 29 matches this season. Her SEC award this year is the second Libero of the Year honor for the Wildcats and the schools’ third Defensive Player of the Year award overall. Napper was also named the All-SEC team.

Congratulations are also in order for Florida’s Holly Pole, Missouri’s Carly Kan and Texas A&M’s Shelby Sullivan. These three talented ladies were named as the SEC’s Scholar-Athletes of the Year after showing off their talents on the court and in the classroom. Pole, a senior at the University of Florida, boasts a 3.5 GPA and has a double major in accounting and sports management, the third person in 20 years approved for a double major in accounting at Florida. Kan has a 3.88 GPA in accounting at Missouri and is only a sophomore! The outside hitter is also a Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. Sullivan joins Kan on the Capital One/CoSIDA Academic All-District team, while earning a 3.85 GPA in marketing.

Florida’s Head Coach Mary Wise took home the SEC Coach of the Year honors for the 14th time after leading the Gators to the SEC regular season title. Her Gators team is currently undefeated as the enter the 2014 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship and is No. 6 in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 and No. 7 in the current NCAA RPI ranking.

Congratulations to everyone who took home SEC volleyball honors and good luck in the championships!

2014 SEC Volleyball Awards

All-SEC Team

All-Freshman Team

*Some stats were taken from this article on the SEC Network’s website