Nov. 20, 2013
TROY, Ala. - Five Western Kentucky University volleyball players along with head coach Travis Hudson were among those honored by the Sun Belt Conference on Wednesday when the league announced its 2013 volleyball awards.
Senior Ashley Potts was named the league's Defensive Player of the Year while fellow classmate Melanie Stutsman earned the first Setter of the Year honor give by the conference. Stutsman along with redshirt senior Paige Wessel and sophomore Noelle Langenkamp were named to the First-Team All-Conference selections while Potts and junior Heather Boyan were awarded with second-team honors.
For the second-straight year, Hudson was given the SBC's Coach of the Year after being voted for the honor by his league peers.
Potts earned the conference's Defensive Player of the Year award for the third time in her career after playing in all 110 sets for WKU at the libero position. She leads the conference in digs per set with an average of 4.92. She averaged 5.32 digs per set during conference play. The Louisville, Ky., native has tallied 541 digs this season and is one of 10 national finalists for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award. For her career, Potts has 1,866 digs to rank third in the Sun Belt Conference rally-scoring era (1996-Present) and is five digs away from becoming WKU's all-time digs leader.
WKU also boasts the Setter of the Year honoree in Stutsman. Stutsman has set the Lady Toppers to a conference-best .315 hitting percentage this season, the fourth best hitting percentage in the nation. Stutsman posted 1,275 assists this season for an 11.59 assists per set average, including 729 assists (12.36 assists/set) in SBC matches. Stutsman's all-around game can be seen in a variety of statistics, including ranking first in the conference in service aces (38) and second on the Lady Toppers in digs (229), fourth in blocks (51), fifth in kills (122) and fifth in hitting percentage (.284). She was named Sun Belt Conference Setter of the Week six times this season and became WKU's all-time assist leader last weekend.
Hudson, who has been at the helm of the Lady Toppers' squad for the last 19 season, earned Coach of the Year honors for the second-consecutive season and the fifth time in his career, having also earned the award in 2000, 2002, 2005 and 2012. Hudson led the Lady Toppers to a 27-5 record this season and 17-1 against SBC opponents. Hudson guided WKU past nationally-ranked opponents, including then-No. 16 Purdue in August, while WKU has received votes all season in the AVCA National Poll.
Wessel continues to power the WKU offense with a .448 hitting percentage, ranking eighth in the nation and first in the SBC. It is the second time in her career that the Louisville, Ky., native earned first-team honors, as she has a team-high 311 kills this season.
After being named to the second team last year, Langenkamp improved in her second year on The Hill to rank 16th in the nation and second on the team with a .417 hitting percentage. She is second on the team with 298 kills and ranks in the SBC top 10 with 2.95 kills per set. The Cincinnati product is also just behind Boyan with 92 blocks this season.
Boyan was a Second-Team All-SBC honoree last year, as this season she is third on the team with a .405 hitting mark but leads the SBC with a .452 hitting percentage against league opponents. Originally from Munster, Ind., Boyan leads the team at the net with 97 blocks.
The Lady Toppers' first challenge as the No. 1 seed at the tournament will be host and No. 8 seed Troy (12-20) on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. CT in Trojan Arena. If WKU moves on, the team will face either No. 4 UT Arlington or No. 5 South Alabama on Friday, Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m. CT.
For more information on the SBC Tournament, visit the Tournament Central page at SunBeltSports.org.
For more information on WKU volleyball, visit WKUSports.com or follow the team on Twitter via @TravisHudsonWKU and @WKUVolleyball.
The complete list of Sun Belt Conference Awards, which were presented at a welcome banquet for the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday night, are listed below:
2013 Sun Belt First Team All-Conference
Edina Begic (UALR, Junior, OH)
Sonja Milanovic (UALR, Sophomore, OH)
Mechell Daniel (South Alabama, Freshman, OH/OPP)
Charmaine Whitmore (UT Arlington, Senior, MB)
Amari Deardorff (Texas State, Senior, RS) Noelle Langenkamp (WKU, Sophomore, MH)
Melanie Stutsman (WKU, Senior, S) Paige Wessel(WKU, RS Senior, OH)
2013 Sun Belt Second Team All-Conference
Dede Bohannon (Georgia State, Sophomore, OH)
Andrea Hole (UL-Lafayette, Junior, S)
Tonice White (UL-Lafayette, Senior, MB)
Jessica Lewis (South Alabama, Freshman, OH)
Taylor Gross (UT Arlington, Junior, OH)
Ashlee Hilbun (Texas State, Senior, MB) Heather Boyan (WKU, Junior, MH)
Ashley Potts(WKU, Senior, DS)
2013 Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year
Edina Begic (UALR, Junior, OH)
2013 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year Ashley Potts (WKU, Senior, DS)
2013 Sun Belt Conference Setter of the Year
Melanie Stutsman (WKU, Senior, S)
2013 Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year
Mechell Daniel (South Alabama, Freshman, OH/OPP)
2013 Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year
Travis Hudson, WKU
