Big Ten Announces 2021 Volleyball Postseason Honors
Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue and Wisconsin each had individual award recipients
ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference announced the 2021 Volleyball All-Big Ten Teams and individual honorees Wednesday, with Big Ten champion Wisconsin earning two individual accolades, according to a vote of the conference’s 14 head coaches. The Badgers’ Sydney Hilley was selected as the Setter of the Year and Julia OrzoÅ‚ was voted Freshman of the Year. In addition, Minnesota’s Stephanie Samedyrepeated as Player of the Year, Nebraska’s Lexi Rodriguez was chosen as Defensive Player of the Year and Purdue’s Dave Shondell earned Coach of the Year honors (the lone award that featured separate voting by the conference coaches and a select media panel, both of whom chose Shondell).
Samedy is the sixth two-time Big Ten Player of the Year and the first since Penn State’s Megan Hodge bookended her career with awards in 2006 and 2009. Samedy is also the fourth student-athlete to capture Big Ten Player of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons and the first since 1997-98, when PSU’s Bonnie Bremner pulled off the feat. In addition, she is one of seven Golden Gophers to be chosen Big Ten Player of the Year, with a Minnesota student-athlete now receiving that award five times in the past seven seasons (Daly Santana in 2015; Sarah Wilhite in 2016; Samantha Seliger-Swenson in 2018; Samedy in 2020 and 2021).
A redshirt senior opposite from Clermont, Fla., Samedy leads the Big Ten in kills (4.84/set; also eighth in the NCAA) and points (5.39/set; 10th in the nation), while also recording 21 double-doubles, 12 20-kill matches, three 30-kill outings and five 20-dig contests. During Big Ten play, she led the conference in kills (4.75/set) and points (5.30/set) with 14 double-doubles, seven 20-kill matches, two 30-kill performances and all five of her 20-dig contests.
Along with earning Player of the Year honors, Samedy also joins Wisconsin graduate student middle blocker Dana Rettke in becoming the first five-time first-team All-Big Ten selections in conference history. Both players, who are also in line to garner All-America honors, returned for their final seasons to compete through use of the NCAA waiver process in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rodriguez is just the second freshman to capture Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year accolades and the first since 2002, when Minnesota’s Paula Gentil earned the first of her three consecutive honors. Rodriguez is also the second Nebraska student-athlete chosen as Defensive Player of the Year, joining Justine Wong-Orantes, who was a two-time honoree (2015, 2016).
A libero and defensive specialist from Sterling, Ill., Rodriguez ranks sixth in the Big Ten in digs (4.46/set) with seven 20-dig matches to her credit, including a career-high 28 digs on the road at both Minnesota (Oct. 30) and Purdue (Nov. 27). In conference action, she ranked third in the Big Ten with 4.71 digs per set, with five 20-dig contests.
With Wednesday’s announcement, Hilley cements her place in Big Ten history as the first three-time Big Ten Setter of the Year since the award was created in 2012. The graduate student from Brooklyn Park, Minn., is also the second Badger to earn the honor, following two-time recipient Lauren Carlini in 2014 and 2015. Hilley currently stands second in both the conference and the nation in assists (11.96/set) and was tops during conference play (12.01/set). For her career, she has 5,876 assists, ranking second among active Division I players and seventh in the Big Ten record books.
An outside hitter from Olsztyn, Poland, Orzoł is the sixth Wisconsin student-athlete chosen as Big Ten Freshman of the Year and the first since Rettke in 2017. Orzoł is averaging 3.01 kills and 2.15 digs per set this season with six double-doubles to her credit.
Shondell has been named Big Ten Coach of the Year for the second time, following his selections by both his conference peers and the media in 2011. Now in his 19th season at Purdue, Shondell has guided the Boilermakers to a 23-5 record this year and a tie for third in the Big Ten standings at 15-5, the program’s best conference finish since 2011. Purdue also has risen as high as a school-record No. 4 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll and earned the No. 6 national seed for this year’s NCAA Tournament, also the best in program history.
Samedy, Rettke and Hilley were unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selections this year. They were joined on that squad by Rodriguez, who was also a unanimous Big Ten All-Freshman Team honoree, along with Orzoł. The complete All-Big Ten teams can be found in the attached document.
The Big Ten also recognized 14 Sportsmanship Award honorees. The students chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These students must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The complete list of honorees can be found in the attached PDF file.
Eight Big Ten schools earned berths in this year’s NCAA Tournament, which opens this weekend with first- and second-round matches at campus sites around the country. Five Big Ten teams received top-16 national seeds and will play host to those opening two rounds — No. 4 Wisconsin, No. 6 Purdue, No. 9 Ohio State, No. 10 Nebraska and No. 12 Minnesota. All first- and second-round matches will be televised on ESPN+.
The NCAA Tournament continues with regional play Dec. 9 & 11, with the Final Four slated for Dec. 16 & 18 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, co-hosted by Ohio State and the Columbus Sports Commission. The national semifinals will be televised on ESPN and the national championship match will be broadcast on ESPN, with selected regional matches also being shown on the ESPN family of networks.
2021 BIG TEN VOLLEYBALL POSTSEASON HONORS
Player of the Year: Stephanie Samedy, RS-Sr., OPP, Minnesota
Defensive Player of the Year: Lexi Rodriguez, Fr., L/DS, Nebraska
Setter of the Year: Sydney Hilley, Grad., Wisconsin
Freshman of the Year: Julia Orzoł, OH, Wisconsin
Coach of the Year (Coaches & Media): Dave Shondell, Purdue
FIRST TEAM ALL-BIG TEN*
Megan Cooney, Grad., OH/OPP, Illinois
Rainelle Jones, Sr., MB, Maryland
Jess Mruzik, So., OH, Michigan
Sarah Franklin, So., OH, Michigan State
CC McGraw, Sr., L/DS, Minnesota
STEPHANIE SAMEDY, RS-Sr., OPP, Minnesota
Madi Kubik, Jr., OH, Nebraska
Lexi Rodriguez, Fr., L/DS, Nebraska
Lauren Stivrins, Sr., MB, Nebraska
Temi Thomas-Ailara, Jr., OH, Northwestern
Mac Podraza, Jr., S, Ohio State
RYLEE RADER, So., MB, Ohio State
Kaitlyn Hord, Sr., MB, Penn State
Jonni Parker, Sr., RS, Penn State
Hayley Bush, RS-Sr., S, Purdue
Grace Cleveland, Sr., OH, Purdue
Caitlyn Newton, RS-Sr., OH, Purdue
SYDNEY HILLEY, Grad., S, Wisconsin
DANA RETTKE, Grad., MB, Wisconsin
SECOND TEAM ALL-BIG TEN
Courtney Buzzerio, Sr., RS, Iowa
Jenna Wenaas, So., OH, Minnesota
Nicklin Hames, Sr., S, Nebraska
Emily Londot, So., OPP, Ohio State
Jenna Hampton, Sr., L/DS, Penn State
Jena Otec, RS-Sr., L/DS, Purdue
Lauren Barnes, Grad., L/DS, Wisconsin
Devyn Robinson, So., MB/RS, Wisconsi
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