ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Valley Conference announced its volleyball postseason awards on Wednesday, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
Player of the Year: Cassidy Hartman, Northern Iowa
Libero of the Year: Emma Hickey, Valparaiso
Setter of the Year: Maria Drapp, Bradley
Freshman of the Year: Gracie Furlong, Bradley
Coach of the Year: Bobbi Petersen, Northern Iowa
Cassidy Hartman is the 10th different Panther to receive the league’s Player of the Year award. Hartman averaged an impressive 4.32 kills and 4.94 points per set to lead the Conference during Valley play. She finished the regular season with a league-leading 242 kills to go with 154 digs and 42 blocks.
For the first time in her career, Valparaiso’s Emma Hickey has been tabbed the MVC Libero of the Year. Hickey led Valpo in digs 26 times in the regular season and tallied 10 or more digs 27 times, including 14 matches with at least 20 digs and three matches with at least 30 digs. With 2,647 career digs, she leads all active NCAA players across all divisions and ranks 18th in D-I history, fifth in MVC history and third in Valpo history in the category. A five-time MVC Defensive Player of the Week this season, Hickey has earned the honor nine times in her career, tied for third-most in MVC history.
For just the second time ever, and the second-straight year, The Valley’s Setter and Freshman of the Year hail from the same school, as Bradley’s Maria Drapp and Gracie Furlong have earned those awards, respectively. Drapp led the league with 664 assists, averaging 10.38 assists and 2.39 digs per set. She also added 21 blocks and 46 kills during league play. Furlong averaged 3.09 kills and 2.78 digs per set as a true freshman. She finished the year with the most kills amongst rookies in the MVC, recording 198.
For the fourth-straight year, and 10th time in her career, UNI’s Bobbi Petersen has been tabbed the MVC Coach of the Year. Petersen guided the Panthers to their third-straight undefeated Conference season. Under the direction of Petersen, UNI has won 52-straight matches in MVC regular-season play dating back to the beginning of the 2023 Conference slate, which is the longest active streak in Division I.
A total of 21 student-athletes from 10 institutions landed a spot on either the first or second all-conference teams while seven players were named to the MVC All-Freshman Team.
| FIRST TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE |
|
|
|
|
| Name |
School |
Pos. |
Yr. |
Hometown (Previous School) |
| Brooke Gilleland |
Belmont |
OH |
Sr. |
Murfreesboro, Tenn. (Siegel HS) |
| Kacia Brown |
Drake |
OH |
Gr. |
Waterloo, Iowa (New Mexico State) |
| Macy Daufeldt |
Drake |
OH |
Sr. |
West Liberty, Iowa (West Liberty HS) |
| Ayat Amin |
UIC |
RS |
Sr. |
Cairo, Egypt (Al Waha International School) |
| Khenedi Guest |
Illinois State |
MB |
So. |
Benton, Ark. (Benton HS) |
| Ella Vogel |
Murray State |
RS |
Sr. |
Cape Girardeau, Mo. (Cape Central HS) |
| Maryn Bixby |
Northern Iowa |
MB |
Fr. |
Dike, Iowa (Dike-New Hartford HS) |
| Lily Dykstra |
Northern Iowa |
OH |
Jr. |
Urbandale, Iowa (Urbandale HS) |
| Cassidy Hartman |
Northern Iowa |
OH |
Jr. |
North Liberty, Iowa (Iowa City Liberty HS) |
| Ava Helming |
Valparaiso |
RS |
So. |
Johnston, Iowa (Johnston HS) |
| Emma Hickey |
Valparaiso |
L |
Sr. |
Granger, Ind. (Penn HS) |
| Sam Warren |
Valparaiso |
RS |
Sr. |
Kentland, Ind. (South Newton HS) |
|
|
|
|
|
| SECOND TEAM ALL-CONFERENCE |
|
|
|
|
| Name |
School |
Pos. |
Yr. |
Hometown (Previous School) |
| Maria Drapp |
Bradley |
S |
So. |
Cincinnati, Ohio (Mercy McAuley HS) |
| Gracie Furlong |
Bradley |
OH |
Fr. |
Galena, Ill. (Galena HS) |
| Tendai Titley |
Bradley |
RS |
R-So. |
Houston, Texas (Obra D. Tompkins HS) |
| Ainoah Cruz |
Evansville |
L |
Jr. |
Arecibo, Puerto Rico |
| Antonie Kelnárová |
UIC |
OH |
So. |
Prague, Czech Republic |
| Julieta Sandez |
UIC |
MB |
Sr. |
Buenos Aires, Argentina (Chicago State) |
| Lindsey Oldendorf |
Northern Iowa |
MB |
Sr. |
Homer Glen, Ill. (San Francisco) |
| Jadyn Petersen |
Northern Iowa |
L |
R-Fr. |
Dike, Iowa (Dike-New Hartford HS) |
| Kelly Franklin |
Southern Illinois |
RS |
Sr. |
Lake Worth, Fla. (Lake Worth Christian HS) |
| ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM |
|
|
|
| Name |
School |
Pos. |
Hometown (Previous School) |
| Jordan Czajkowski |
Belmont |
S |
New Berlin, Wis. (Divine Savior Holy Angels HS) |
| Erin McMullen |
Belmont |
MB |
Miami, Fla. (Doral Academy Preparatory School) |
| Gracie Furlong |
Bradley |
OH |
Galena, Ill. (Galena HS) |
| Caroline Smith |
Drake |
RS |
New Lennox, Ill. (Lincoln-Way West HS) |
| Maryn Bixby |
Northern Iowa |
MB |
Dike, Iowa (Dike-New Hartford HS) |
| Isabelle Elliot |
Northern Iowa |
OH/RS |
Sumner, Iowa (Sumner-Fredericksburg HS) |
| Jadyn Petersen |
Northern Iowa |
L |
Dike, Iowa (Dike-New Hartford HS) |