LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- In exclusive all‐conference voting by the head coaches of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC), Marguerite Spaethling of Colorado College was selected SCAC Player‐of‐the‐Year while CC head coach Rick Swan was named SCAC Coach‐of‐the‐Year for the second consecutive year. Complete Release
In the same balloting, Jaci Chambers of Texas Lutheran University was selected SCAC Backrow Player‐of‐the‐Year, and Dayjah Whyte of the University of Dallas earned SCAC Freshman‐of‐the‐Year honors.
A junior middle hitter from Lakespur, Calif., Spaethling currently leads the SCAC and is 13th in the nation in hitting percentage at .376. If she continues at her current pace, it would be the second-highest single-season attach percentage performance in school history. She is also fourth in the league in kills (296) and fifth in kills per set (2.96). The versatile Spaethling, who is the only player to win both Offensive and Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors this season, is third in the league in total blocks (85) and blocks per set (0.85). Among her awards this season, other than earning two Offensive and one Defensive POTW honors, she was voted MVP of the CC Classic by opposing coaches and earned all-tournament honors at the Washington (Mo.) Invitational.
Spaethling's selection as SCAC Player-of-the-Year marks the fifth consecutive year that a Colorado College student-athlete has taken home the league's highest honor. Abbe Holtz won the award in 2014 and 2016, Courtney Birkett received the honor in 2015 and current teammate Lizzy Counts was the league's Player-of-the-Year last season. Spaethling received six first-place votes from the coaches in the balloting for Player-of-the-Year. Southwestern University's Jamison Duck earned two votes and Madeline McKay of Trinity University picked up the remaining first-place vote.
Jaci Chambers, a junior defensive specialist from Baytown, Texas, was selected the league's Backrow Player-of-the-Year after leading the SCAC during the regular season in both digs (681) and digs per set (6.03). A solid and consistent presence for the Bulldogs throughout the 2018 campaign, her digs per set average is currently ranked in the top 10 in the nation and will be a top 10 all-time SCAC single-season mark. Chambers also tallied 88 assists for 0.78 per set, both marks within the top 20 in the conference.
Chambers is the second Texas Lutheran player to earn a SCAC Backrow Player-of-the-Year honors and the first since Megan Lee won the award in back-to-back seasons in 2013 and 2014. She received four votes from the coaches for the Backrow Player-of-the-Year honor to narrowly outpoint Sarah Mullens of Trinity who picked up three votes. Mari Prazak of Austin College and Krystyn Pua of the University of Dallas each received one first-place vote.
Dayjah Whyte of the University of Dallas, a first-year middle hitter from Round Rock, Texas, earned SCAC Freshman-of-the-Year honors after posting top-10 performances in kills (289 – seventh in the SCAC), kills per set (2.95 – sixth in the SCAC) and attack percentage (.292 – ninth in the SCAC). She was the only freshman in the league to rank in the top 10 in all three categories during the regular season. Whyte earned SCAC Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors back in Week 6 when she posted a .392 hitting percentage in four matches, which included a career-high 22 kills in a 3-1 victory at Randall College.
Whyte, who picked up four first-place votes in the balloting, is the first Dallas player to ever earn SCAC Freshman-of-the-Year honors in the sport of volleyball. Isabella Vasquez of Colorado College received two votes, followed by Rachel Demerjian of Centenary College, Kaitlin Jones of Johnson & Wales University Denver and Makenzie Mendez of Southwestern, who earned one vote each.
Coach Rick Swan guided Colorado College to a regular season overall mark of 29‐2 as well as a 15‐1 SCAC record as the Tigers will share regular season conference champion honors with Trinity. The top seed at this weekend's SCAC championship tournament, Colorado College is currently ranked fourth in the nation. Owner of a 577‐209 career record (.734), Swan is the winningest coach in CC volleyball history and has guided the Tigers to a school‐record 20 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs. His 147 conference wins are the fourth-most in league history and his .870 conference win percentage is second all-time.
The award marks the fifth time Swan has been recognized by his peers as the conference's Coach‐of‐the‐Year – earning the award previously in 2010, 2015 and 2017 as well as a co‐COTY nod in 2012. The five COTY honors place him alongside former Southwestern head coach Hannah Long for the second-most in league history – trailing only current Trinity head coach Julie Jenkins who has 13.
To view the entire 2018 All-SCAC Volleyball Team, click here.