STANDISH, Maine – The 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Volleyball All-Conference teams have been released and four Saint Joseph's College players account for six honors, including a pair of major awards, collectively.
Senior middle blocker Felicia Wachowiak (Milton, N.H.) has been selected as the 2015 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year and has earned First Team All-GNAC honors for the third-consecutive season while freshman libero Jennelle Thompson (Farmington, N.H.) is the 2015 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and is also listed on the All-GNAC First Team.
Junior outside hitter Victoria Huntley (Ellsworth, Maine) and junior setter Mariah Hebert (Biddeford, Maine) have claimed Third Team All-GNAC accolades.
Wachowiak deservedly claims First Team and Offensive Player of the Year accolades after posting perhaps the finest offensive numbers in program history. The three-year captain shattered the Monks' single-season records for kills (416), kills per set (3.61) and attack percentage (.337) while posting 128 blocks (80 solo) and 520 total points as a senior. She led the conference in kills, kills per set, block solos, total blocks, blocks per set (1.11), points and points per set (4.5). This fall, Wachowiak earned GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors five times and Defensive Player of the Week accolades on four occasions with a pair of ECAC DIII New England Offensive Player of the Week awards.
She closed out her collegiate career as the Monks' all-time leader in sets played (440), matches played (125), kills (1,353), kills per set (3.07), total attacks (3,176), block solos (294), block assists (174), total blocks (468), and blocks per set (1.06). Wachowiak, the first SJC player to earn Conference Offensive Player of the Year acclaim since Karen Heslin '98 did so in 1997, also broke the GNAC career total blocks record this fall.
Thompson becomes the first player in program history to earn Defensive Player of the Year honors after leading the conference with 5.67 digs per set and 652 total digs. The first-year standout obliterated the Monks' single-season records and finished the season as the far and away GNAC leader for both categories, 1.38 per set and 163 total ahead of the second-ranked player in the conference. Thompson claimed three GNAC Rookie of the Week honors, two Defensive Player of the Week awards and a pair of ECAC DIII New England Rookie of the Week accolades this fall.
Huntley collects All-Conference honors for the first time in her career after recording 266 kills, 33 service aces and 349 digs during her junior season. She ranked fifth in the conference in total attacks (879), eighth in digs, ninth in kills, 10th in points (310) and 11th in digs per set (3.04) this fall.
For Hebert, who missed the entire 2014 campaign while recovering from injury, the All-Conference honor is also a career-first. The junior setter surpassed the Monks' single-season assists record with 915 helpers, a total that ranked second in the conference. Hebert also ranked third in the GNAC in assists per set (8.10) and contributed 178 digs and 33 service aces this fall.
Under the watch of sixth-year Head Coach Yamile Nolan in 2015, the SJC volleyball team registered one of the finest seasons ever recorded by a Saint Joseph's Athletics program, as the Monks tied the team's season victories record (27) and posted the highest winning percentage in program history (.818, 27-6), a mark that counts as the ninth-best success rate posted by any SJC team since 2000.
The 2015 team set new single-season records for kills (1,141) and assists (1,028) and tied the SJC mark for digs (2,117).
With an 8-3 record in GNAC play, the Monks earned the #3 seed in the conference tourney and rallied past #6 Simmons College, 3-2, on November 3rd, a victory that counts as the program's first postseason win in nine seasons as a GNAC member. Saint Joseph's traveled to #2 Johnson & Wales University for a semifinal match and, despite holding a lead late in each set, suffered a 3-0 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats, who went on to upset top-ranked Rivier University in the GNAC Championship two days later.
2015 GNAC VOLLEYBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS
GNAC RELEASE:
WINTHROP, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College of Maine senior middle blocker Felicia Wachowiak has been selected as the 2015 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Women's Volleyball Offensive Player of the Year, as voted upon by the league's 12 head coaches.
The Milton, N.H. native helped lead the Monks to a third-place finish in the GNAC regular-season standings and GNAC Tournament semifinals, as she led the conference in kills per set (3.62) and blocks per set (1.11), while ranking third among league leaders with a .337 hitting percentage.
Monks teammate and freshman libero Jennelle Thompson was voted the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, as the rookie averaged 5.65 digs per set to lead the conference. The mark was 1.38 digs per set more than the second-highest individual average in the GNAC.
Johnson & Wales University freshman middle hitter Emily Kalmink was named the GNAC Rookie of the Year, as the first-year helped lead the Wildcats to the GNAC Championship over regular-season champion Rivier University and an NCAA Tournament berth. Entering NCAA play, Kalmink ranks among the top-five in the conference in kills per set (3.03), hitting percentage (.334) and blocks per set (0.93). Her team will take on Amherst at MIT in the first round of the tournament.
Rivier 17th-year head coach Craig Kolek was voted the 2015 GNAC Coach of the Year by his peers, an honor he has now received four times in his illustrious career. His Raiders went 11-0 in league play to claim yet another GNAC regular-season title and placed a league-leading five on the three All-Conference Teams, including two on the First Team.
Joining Wachowiak, Thompson and Kalmink on the First Team were Johnson & Wales senior setter Kellen Tensen, Rivier junior middle hitter Lauren Silverman, Rivier senior setter Emily O'Reilly and Simmons junior outside hitter Cailin Frederickson.
For the complete list of All-Conference selections, please see below.
Entering NCAA Tournament action, Tensen ranks second in the GNAC with 9.07 assists per set, behind only O'Reilly's mark of 10.08 assists per set. Meanwhile Silverman had a standout season for the Raiders, posting per-set marks of 3.28 kills and 1.09 blocks, while leading the GNAC with a stellar .399 hitting percentage. Frederickson averaged 3.05 kills per set for the Sharks.
Founded in 1995, the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) is an NCAA Division III association made up of 12 member institutions and over 3,000 student-athletes across the New England region. Each year, the GNAC sponsors and administers 17 championships, while balancing academic integrity, athletic opportunities and community involvement.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 474-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
