SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Colorado
College, the 10th-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. Emily Perkins was named SCAC Player-of-the-Year while
head coach Rick Swan was selected as SCAC Coach-of-the-Year –
the first time a Colorado College student-athlete or head coach has
earned either award since becoming a member of the league prior to
the 2007 season. Complete Release
In the same balloting, Jennifer McKannan of Birmingham-Southern
College was selected the SCAC Backrow Player-of-the-Year, and
Shelby Eaves of Austin College was named SCAC
Freshman-of-the-Year.
Perkins, a senior middle blocker/outside hitter from Plano, Texas,
led the Tigers in kills and points, and was second in hitting
percentage, digs and total blocks. During the 2010 regular season,
she ranked third in the SCAC in kills per set (3.01) and seventh in
hitting percentage (.275). Perkins posted a triple-double (11
kills, 10 digs, 10 blocks) against Occidental on Oct. 23 and had 11
double-doubles over the course of the season. A 2009 AVCA First
Team all-America selection, she played both outside hitter and
middle hitter in the front row and primary passer, defender in the
back row. Earlier this year, Perkins became just the second player
in program history to record 1,500 career kills and digs, and,
heading into this weekend’s conference tournament with 1,621
career kills – the current leader among active players in the
category – she needs just 37 more kills to crack the
league’s top ten for career kills.
Four different players received votes for Player-of-the-Year, led
by Perkins who was tabbed on seven of the coaches’ ballots.
Jessica Fleming of Austin College received two votes while
Christina Nicholls and Lindsay Thompson – both of
Southwestern University – received one vote each.
McKannan, a senior defensive specialist from Huntsville, Ala., was
selected as the league’s Backrow Player-of-the-Year –
becoming the first student-athlete from Birmingham-Southern to win
one of the three major volleyball individual postseason awards
since the Panthers joined the SCAC prior to the 2007 season. The
senior leads the team and the conference in digs per set (6.02),
and became BSC's all-time digs leader earlier this season –
surpassing the 2,000 career digs milestone the weekend of Oct. 30.
Named an all-tournament selection at both the Rhodes Fall Classic
and Emory National Invitational, McKannan would rank in the top 20
in the nation in digs per set if Birmingham-Southern
student-athletes were eligible to be ranked by the NCAA.
McKannan received six votes from the coaches in earning the Backrow
Player-of-the-Year award, nudging past Kayla McCrury of Rhodes
College who received four votes. Kim Larson of Hendrix College and
Kylee Lehrman of DePauw each received one vote.
Eaves, a first-year outside hitter from Farmerville, Texas,
averaged 2.91 kills per set during the regular season (sixth in the
SCAC) while starting every match for Austin College. In addition to
her 340 kills, she also chipped in with 351 digs, 52 blocks and 16
service aces. Eaves is the second player from Austin College to
earn the league’s Freshman-of-the-Year award –
following Morgan Ballard who won the award in 2007.
Eaves edged out Birmingham-Southern’s Alex Bothe for the
award. Eaves received five votes in earning FOTY honors, just two
more than Bothe. Catherine Janszen of Centre College, Lexie Krall
of Rhodes College, Allison Stubbs of Southwestern University and
Maryn Swierc of Trinity University each received one vote.
Head Coach Rick Swan, in his 13th season at Colorado College, led
the 10th-ranked Tigers to a 14-1 conference mark; 27-6 overall
record, and a first-place finish during the 2010 SCAC regular
season. Owner of a 296-123 record (.706) since taking the reins in
1998, Swan has guided the Tigers to a school-record 12 consecutive
appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs. In 2009, Colorado
College posted a 35-5 record, earned its first-ever appearance in
the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament and finished the year No. 7
in the American Volleyball Coaches Association's Top 25 Poll, the
highest ranking in the program's history.
Swan received six votes from his peers in the COTY voting. Deb
Zellers of DePauw University picked up two votes while April Fricke
of Birmingham-Southern College, Hannah Long of Southwestern
University, Mary Ann Schlientz of Hendrix College and Julie Jenkins
of Trinity University received one vote each.
For the complete 2010 All-SCAC Women's Volleyball release, click
here.