Colorado College Sweeps Major Awards in 2015 All-SCAC Volleyball Voting

Colorado College Sweeps Major Awards in 2015 All-SCAC Volleyball Voting

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Colorado College, the top seed for this weekend’s Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Volleyball Tournament and the seventh-ranked team in the nation, was rewarded for its highly successful season with a sweep of the league’s four major postseason awards in exclusive all-conference voting by the head coaches of the SCAC. Complete Release

Courtney Birkett was named the SCAC Player-of-the-Year and teammates Myca Steffey-Bean and Sophie Merrifield were named the league’s Freshman and Backrow Player-of-the-Year respectively. Colorado College head coach Rick Swan was tabbed as the SCAC Coach-of-the-Year.

A senior right side from Newbury Park, Calif., and an Honorable Mention All-America selection in 2013, Courtney Birkett rebounded from an injury-plagued junior season to become the rock of the team this season. She has recorded eight triple-doubles (third in the nation), 10 double-doubles, and leads the Tigers in assists (598 – fifth in the SCAC) and aces (37 – fifth in the SCAC) and is second in total blocks (84 – seventh in the SCAC) and kills (310 – sixth in the SCAC) heading into this weekend’s conference tournament. Birkett was MVP in two tournaments and was selected all-tournament in all four tournaments the Tigers played this year. She is fourth in the SCAC in hitting percentage (.311) and was a three-time conference Offensive Player of the week during the 2015 regular season. Birkett is the second consecutive CC player to earn SCAC Player-of-the-Year honors, following her teammate Abby Holtz, and is the third player from the program to earn the award since the school joined the conference prior to the 2007 season.

Birkett received six first-place votes from the coaches in the Player-of-the-Year balloting while Southwestern University’s Kaitlyn Foster earned the remaining two votes.

Sophie Merrifield, a senior defensive specialist from Fairfax, Calif., was selected the league’s Backrow Player-of-the-Year after leading her team with 613 digs (third in the SCAC).  Heading into this weekend’s conference tournament, she has posted 2,440 digs – the second-most in SCAC history. A four-time all-tournament selection and a three-time SCAC Defensive Player-of-the-Week selection, Merrifield ran the team’s defense and was a major reason the Tigers held opponents to a league-low .090 hitting percentage (seventh nationally). Additionally, her passing was a major factor as Colorado College led the conference with a .239 hitting percentage. She also had 31 services aces – good for third on the team and 11th in the SCAC. The team’s co-Captain the last two seasons, Merrifield is the first Colorado College player to earn SCAC Backrow Player-of-the-Year honors.

In a tightly contested vote, Merrifield received three votes from the coaches in earning the Backrow Player-of-the-Year award. Megan Dugie of Texas Lutheran University received two votes while Andie Alford of Southwestern, Rachel Fusselman of Austin College and Jessie Koster of the University of Dallas received one vote each.

Myca Steffey-Bean, a first-year middle hitter from Torrance, Calif., made steady improvement all season and eventually worked her way into the Tigers’ starting lineup. She was a major contributor during the second half of the season, especially during conference competition, and finished ninth in the conference (conference-only matches) in hitting percentage (.288), fourth in services aces per set (0.41) and seventh in blocks per set (0.81). Steffey-Bean is the fourth consecutive Colorado College player to earn Freshman-of-the-Year honors – joining Emily Phillips (2012) and current teammates Abbe Holtze (2013) and Sarah Barker (2014) as recent Tigers to win the award.

Steffey-Bean received four votes from the coaches for the Freshman-of-the-Year award, while Delanie Cauthen of Schreiner University, Katie Ingle of Austin College, Sarah Mullens of Trinity and Elizabeth Smith of Dallas each received one first-place vote.

Coach Rick Swan guided Colorado College to a program-best regular season overall mark of 33-2 as well as a perfect 14-0 SCAC record – the first school to complete the conference schedule undefeated since the 2009 Southwestern University squad. Colorado College, which will be the top seed at this weekend’s SCAC championship tournament, is currently ranked seventh in the nation. This equals the program’s highest previous ranking when the 2009 team finished seventh in the nation after making its first-ever appearance in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament. Owner of a 462-157 record (.746) since taking the reins in 1998, Swan is the winningest coach in CC volleyball history and has guided the Tigers to a school-record 17 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Division III playoffs.  

The award marks the third time Swan has been recognized by his peers as the conference’s Coach-of-the-Year – earning the award previously in 2010 as well as a co-COTY nod in 2012.

To view the entire 2015 All-SCAC Volleyball Team, click here.

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