2015 All-Conference Teams
Top-seeded Stevens Institute of Technology placed four players on the all-conference teams and won three of the four 2015 yearly awards. Mary Tobin earned Player of the Year, Sydni Horner garnered Libero/Defensive Specialist of the Year honors and Head Coach Glenn DeHaven and his staff were tabbed as the Coaching Staff of the Year. Ithaca freshman Katie Evans was voted the Rookie of the Year.
Tobin registred a .243 hitting percentage in conference matches that included 109 kills in 27 sets played. She also added 10 service aces, 97 digs and five blocks. Her 4.04 kills per set led the conference while her 3.59 digs per set ranked eighth. Overall she registered 375 kills, 355 digs and 27 blocks. Tobin had 17 matches with a double-double including a season high 24 digs and 20 kills against St. John Fisher. Tobin is Stevens’ sixth E8 Player of the Year recipient. She joins previous winners from 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012 and 2013.
Horner, the 2014 Rookie of the Year, led Stevens with 5.64 digs per set (626 digs) to rank 28th in the NCAA. She has started all 32 matches to date, registering double figure digs 31 times, including a season-high 31 against Endicott. In conference only matches she collected 5.85 digs per set (158 digs) to ranked second in the conference. Horner is the third Duck to earn Defensive Specialist of the Year (Julia Reilly – 2010 and Kirsten Salmins – 2013).
Evans is the fourth Bomber to earn Rookie honors (2004, 2006 and 2012). She led Ithaca with a .372 hitting percentage, which ranked 14th in the NCAA. Evans totaled double-figure kills in ten different matches including a season high of 18 against Cortland. Her 65 blocks ranked second on the team. In conference only matches she had 73 kills with an impressive .444 hitting percentage.
DeHaven and his staff led Stevens to a 21-11 regular record and a perfect 8-0 mark in the Empire 8 regular season. It is the third straight season in which Stevens has gone undefeated in conference play and the Ducks have won 28 straight regular season E8 matches.
Stevens will host the Empire 8 Tournament this weekend, with the winner earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
One member of each team was named that institution’s representative on the 2015 Volleyball Sportswoman of the Year Team. Empire 8 emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete’s experience in conjunction with an institution’s educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen.
Player of the Year: Mary Tobin, Stevens Institute of Technology
Libero/Defensive Specialist of the Year: Sydni Horner, Stevens Institute of Technology
Rookie of the Year: Katie Evans, Ithaca College
Coaching Staff of the Year: Stevens Institute of Technology