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Southwestern's Nicholls; Long Headline 2011 All-SCAC Volleyball Voting
(Photo credits: Theresa Rollins and Ron May)
JACKSON, Miss. – Southwestern University, the
sixth-ranked team in the nation and the top seed for this weekend's
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament, was
recognized for its highly successful season in exclusive
all-conference voting by the head coaches of the SCAC. Christina
Nicholls was named SCAC Player-of-the-Year while head coach Hannah
Long was selected as SCAC Coach-of-the-Year for the third time in
four years. Complete Release
In the same balloting, Maraia Tremarelli of Rhodes
College was selected the SCAC Backrow Player-of-the-Year, and
Maggie Emodi of Trinity University was named SCAC
Freshman-of-the-Year.
Nicholls, a senior setter from Austin, Texas, has been a four-year
starter for the Pirates and has led the team in assists all four of
her seasons in Georgetown. In 2008, she was 12th in the nation in
assists per set, 21st in 2009 and is currently 14th, averaging
10.72. Nicholls has been named First Team All-SCAC the last three
seasons, and has been a First Team All-South Region honoree and an
Honorable Mention AVCA All-America selection the last two seasons.
A two-year captain and a fierce competitor, Nicholls is just the
fourth player in SCAC history to accumulate over 5,000 assists for
a career as she currently stands at 5,221 heading into this
weekend's conference tournament. The award marks the fifth time a
Southwestern player has earned the league's highest honor and the
third time in the last four years. Audra Gentry earned back-to-back
Player-of-the-Year awards in 2008 and 2009. She is the first setter
to win the award since 2004 when Trinity's Ashley Farrimond earned
POTY honors.
Four different players received votes for Player-of-the-Year, with
Nicholls receiving four first-place votes. Jessica Fleming of
Austin College, who finished second in the POTY voting, received
the most first-place votes with six. Amy Schornack of Colorado
College and Catharine Found of Trinity received one vote each.
Tremarelli, a first-year libero from Hilton Head, S.C., was
selected as the league's Backrow Player-of-the-Year after finishing
the regular season with 693 digs (second in the SCAC), which
already represents the third-most digs in a single season in Rhodes
College history. Named the league's Defensive Player-of-the-Week in
Week 1, Tremarelli averaged 5.35 digs per game in conference
matches with a league-high 348 digs in those matches. She had four
30+ dig efforts on the season including a 46-dig performance in a
five-set loss to sixth-ranked Southwestern. Since the award was
established prior to the 2004 season, no program has produced more
Backrow Players-of-the-Year than Rhodes. Tremarelli's honor marks
the fourth for the Lynx, but the first since Laura Reilly was
selected in 2006.
Tremarelli received four votes from the coaches in earning the
Backrow Player-of-the-Year award, nudging past Sarai Tenerelli of
Southwestern who received three votes. Hannah Varnell of Colorado
College and Adrienne Reynolds of Austin College each received two
votes each, and Emily Meyers of the University of Dallas received
the remaining first-place vote.
Emodi, a first-year outside hitter from Omaha, Neb., averaged a
team-best 3.37 kills per set this season, and led the Tigers with
354 overall kills. She was second on the Trinity team with a .288
hitting percentage, and fourth in both blocks (63) and
digs (204). Emodi ranked fourth in the SCAC in kills and
seventh in the SCAC in hitting percentage during the regular
season. Her 27 blocks against East Texas Baptist (10/29/11) were
tied for the third-most in school history for a single match. Emodi
is just the second Trinity player to earn Freshman-of-the-Year
honors, joining former Tiger Caroline Keener who received the honor
in 2005.
Emodi was the consensus choice for SCAC Freshman-of-the-Year,
earning 11 votes from the coaches for the award. Suzanne Asbury of
Centre College received the remaining first-place vote.
Coach Hannah Long has guided Southwestern to a 28-2 overall record
despite having one of the highest strength of schedules in the
nation, facing five AVCA Top 25 teams and 10 regionally-ranked
opponents this season. The Pirates, who have dominated in
conference play, going unbeaten in the ultra-competitive SCAC with
a 14-0 record, are riding a 19-game win streak heading into the
conference tournament. Long's teams have been a constant at the
NCAA Regionals, making appearances every year since 2005 and are
looking to do the same this season as the current #6 team in the
nation – the highest ranking yet for the Pirates in her
tenure. In her eighth season in Georgetown, Long currently sports
an overall mark of 253-54, including an incredible 109-17 in
conference matches. She entered the 2011 season with the third-best
win percentage among all active Division III coaches with at least
five years of coaching experience.
Long received eight votes from her peers in the Coach-of-the-Year
voting while Jessica Cortese of the University of the
South-Sewanee, Jamie Fisher of Millsaps College, Julie Jenkins of
Trinity University and Rick Swan of Colorado College received one
vote each.
For the complete 2011 All-SCAC Women's Volleyball release, click
here.
