St. Ambrose's Grafton Headlines Women's Volleyball Honor Roll
CHICAGO --- Regular-season champion Judson University came away toting the most awards when the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference announced its postseason honor roll for women's volleyball on Monday. The Eagle program secured seven of the 34 total awards that were presented, including three of the top five individual accolades.
Capturing runner-up distinction were both CCAC Tournament champion St. Ambrose University and Trinity Christian College with five honors each. University of St. Francis, Olivet Nazarene University and Saint Xavier University gained three spots on the all-conference squads.
Earning two places each were Indiana University South Bend, Roosevelt University and Indiana University Northwest, while Governors State University and Calumet College of St. Joseph each had one player representative.
Named the CCAC Player of the Year was St. Ambrose's Mackenzie Grafton (Orion, Ill.), who was a three-time league attacker of the week. The senior outside hitter is currently second in the league and 13th in the nation in kills per set (3.97) and 11th in the conference in hitting percentage (.221), while also averaging 2.6 digs per set.
Judson's top three individual award winners were Lindsay Lawlor (Fishers, Ind.), Kenia Diaz Vega (Caguas, Puerto Rico) and head coach Alyssa Serewicz-Wido. The latter gained CCAC Coach of the Year recognition after taking the Eagles to the regular-season title and a current 22-4 record heading into the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round in her first year.
Lawlor was honored as the CCAC Setter of the Year after leading the league and ranking 12th in the nation in assists per set (10.39). The senior and four-time CCAC Setter of the Week also averages 2.04 digs per set.
Rounding out the trio of Eagle top recipients was Diaz Vega, who was named the CCAC Libero of the Year. Twice selected as the league's Defender of the Week, the senior leads the conference with her 5.26 digs-per-set average and ranks third in services aces per set at 0.42.
The other top individual award went to Trinity Christian's Alexis Bartz (Jenison, Mich.), who became the second Troll player in as many years to earn CCAC Freshman of the Year accord. The setter was sixth in assists per set (7.44), while also averaging 2.24 digs per set.
A total of 14 players made the all-conference first team with another 14 individuals being represented on the second team. Judson and St. Ambrose shared the honor of having the most all-league selections with Judson's four all being named to the first team. SAU's four were split evenly between the two teams.
Five of the first-team picks were recognizable names in three-peat selections Desiree Anderson (Joliet, Ill.) of St. Francis and Kaleigh Ritter (Tinley Park, Ill.) of Saint Xavier and repeat choices Diaz Vega, Indiana South Bend's Abigail Seeger (Whitehall, Mich.) and St. Ambrose's Meredith Siebers (Quincy, Ill.).
Rounding out the list of award winners was Trinity Christian as a program, claiming the conference's Champions of Character team award.
For the complete list of award winners, go to Awards.