Season and Tourney Champ SXU Tops VB Postseason Honor Roll
CHICAGO — Saint Xavier University continued its reign as the top team in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference this fall with the Cougar program gaining the most postseason honors when the 2021 CCAC women’s volleyball postseason awards were announced by the league office on Monday morning. The seven individual honors awarded to the Cougars combine with their regular-season and tournament championships.
A total of 34 awardees were named on Monday. After Saint Xavier’s seven spots, the next highest number of awards went to both second-place regular-season and tournament finisher Indiana University South Bend and Olivet Nazarene University. Each of those two programs had five honorees.
University of St. Francis, Trinity International University and Judson University were next in line with three recipients each followed by St. Ambrose University with two. Trinity Christian College, Cardinal Stritch University, Governors State University, Lincoln College and Indiana University Northwest each had one representative on either the all-conference first or second teams, which were split evenly with 14 members each.
In terms of all-conference recipients alone, Saint Xavier, Indiana South Bend and Olivet Nazarene each had four individuals chosen with Saint Xavier and Indiana South Bend tying for the most first-team picks with three each.
Saint Xavier also came away with three of the top individual awards when Nadia Atton (Midland, Mich.) was named the CCAC Player of the Year, Kaleigh Ritter (Tinley Park, Ill.) was chosen as the CCAC Freshman of the Year and Bob Heersema was voted upon by his peers as the CCAC Coach of the Year.
Atton led the league in both kills (513) and kills per set (4.71) over her 31 matches played through Saturday, while ranking third in attack percentage at .311. In terms of national rankings, the senior outside hitter is third in kills and fifth in kills per set. Her other numbers include a 2.75 digs per set average and 44 blocks.
Ritter made a big splash in her first season as a setter in the league ranking first in the conference in both total assists (1,113) and assists per set (11.35). On the national level, she is fifth in assists per set and seven in total assists.
Ritter also had solid dig numbers with her 2.81 average and 306 total digs. She also recorded 32 service aces over her 31 matches played through Saturday.
Recognized as the CCAC Libero of the Year was Olivet Nazarene’s Kaitlynn McMahan (Grant Park, Ill.). The senior led the league in three statistical categories, while ranking second in another one. Her top-rated marks came in total digs (623), digs per set (5.82) and service aces (54). She was second in service aces per set (0.50).
Nationally, McMahan was 13th in digs per set.
Indiana South Bend’s McKenzie Powell (Rolling Prairie, Ind.) garnered the other top individual playing honor with her CCAC Setter of the Year award. The senior turned in 1,113 assists (10.7 avg.) and 323 digs (3.11 avg.) over 29 matches played through Saturday with both assist numbers placing her second in the league.
Heersema gained the top coaching honor after guiding the Cougars to a perfect 21-0 record against conference foes this season, including the three playoff matches. Overall, the Cougars are 28-3 and among others receiving votes in the latest NAIA Coaches’ Poll heading into the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round.
Among the 14 first-team all-conference selections, eight were familiar faces from one year ago. Judson’s Katie Valeria (Dodgeville, Wis.) capped off her career by being named to the first team all four years. Three-peat first-team choices were Atton, Powell, Indiana South Bend’s Hannah Marchand (Sturgis, Mich.) and Trinity International’s Brianna Torres (Chula Vista, Calif.), while McMahan, teammate Janelle Skinner (Bolingbrook, Ill.) and St. Ambrose’s Jill Kavalauskas (Chicago, Ill.) earned the recognition for the second year in a row.
Rounding out the list of award winners was Indiana University Northwest’s squad, which claimed the CCAC Champions of Character Team award.
2021 WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL POSTSEASON AWARDS
Player of the Year Nadia Atton – Saint Xavier
Setter of the Year McKenzie Powell – Indiana South Bend
Libero of the Year Kaitlyn McMahan – Olivet Nazarene
Freshman of the Year Kaleigh Ritter – Saint Xavier
Coach of the Year Bob Heersema – Saint Xavier
Champions of Character Team Indiana University Northwest
First Team All-Conference
OH Desiree Anderson So. St. Francis (Ill.) Joliet, Ill.
OH Nadia Atton Sr. Saint Xavier Midland, Mich.
MH Julie Brown Sr. Indiana South Bend Whitehall, Mich.
MH Courtney Hunter So. Saint Xavier Bourbonnais, Ill.
OH Jill Kavalauskas Sr. St. Ambrose Chicago, Ill.
MH Hannah Marchand Sr. Indiana South Bend Sturgis, Mich.
RSA Jennifer McCallister Sr. Cardinal Stritch Prineville, Ore.
L Kaitlynn McMahan Sr. Olivet Nazarene Grant Park, Ill.
S McKenzie Powell Sr. Indiana South Bend Rolling Prairie, Ind.
S Kaleigh Ritter Fr. Saint Xavier Tinley Park, Ill.
S Janelle Skinner Sr. Olivet Nazarene Bolingbrook, Ill.
OH Dunja Tatic Sr. Governors State Belgrade, Serbia
OH Brianna Torres Sr. Trinity International Chula Vista, Calif.
MH Katie Valeria Sr. Judson Dodgeville, Wis.
Second Team All-Conference
L Cassidy Adams Fr. Lincoln Millbrook, Ill.
MH Becca Bell Sr. Olivet Nazarene Salem, Wis.
OH Emileishka De Jesus Jr. Indiana Northwest San Juan, Puerto, Rico
OH Mackenzie Ebert Sr. Judson Campbellsport, Wis.
L Jaylyn Freeman Sr. Trinity International Athens, Ala.
L Kenzie Gibson Jr. Trinity Christian Byron Center, Mich.
MH Matty Hawkins Sr. Trinity International Harrisburg, Ill.
L Avanna Martinez Fr. Saint Xavier Coamo, Puerto Rico
MH Rachel Newport Sr. Olivet Nazarene Avon, Ind.
L Maicee Pierce Sr. St. Ambrose Epworth, Iowa
MH Lauren Stefanski Sr. St. Francis (Ill.) Plainfield, Ill.
L Suriya Van der Oord Fr. Indiana South Bend Norton Shores, Mich.
L Enola Varga Sr. Judson Glenview, Ill.
MH Stephanie Woods Sr. St. Francis (Ill.) Glen Ellyn, Ill
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