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Pac-12 Volleyball postseason honors announced

Dec 3, 2019

UCLA’s Mac May voted Player of the Year
Washington State’s Magda Jehlarova named Freshman of the Year
Stanford’s Jenna Gray is Setter of the Year of the third time
Stanford’s Morgan Hentz tabbed Libero of the Year for the third time
Utah’s Beth Launiere tabbed Coach of the Year

SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 Conference announced its postseason volleyball awards today. UCLA junior outside hitter Mac May was voted the Pac-12 Volleyball Player of the Year becoming the first Bruin to win the honor since 1994; WASHINGTON STATE’s Magda Jehlarova was selected the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, the first Cougar to win the award; and UTAH’s Beth Launiere was voted Pac-12 Volleyball Coach of the Year for the first time in her career, Commissioner Larry Scott announced Tuesday. In addition, STANFORD senior Jenna Gray was tabbed the Pac-12 Setter of the Year and her senior teammate Morgan Hentz was selected the Pac-12 Libero of the Year, both earning their respective honors for the third-consecutive year.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR -- MAC MAY, JR., OH, UCLA (Dubuque, Iowa.)
Mac May (Dubuque, Iowa) becomes the sixth Bruin and first since 1994 to win the Conference’s top honor. She has led the Bruins back to the NCAA Tournament, and the team’s 36th all-time, after missing out on the postseason last year. May ends the regular season as the league’s second-leading scorer, averaging 5.53 points per set. Her 0.41 service aces per set leads the Pac-12 and her 4.84 kills average are second. Her kills and points per set averages also rank her 13th and ninth, respectively, in the country. May was tabbed the AVCA National Player of the Week on Oct. 29 after leading a then-unranked UCLA to wins over then-No. 2 Stanford and then-No. 15 California, and was twice named the Conference’s Player of the Week. With May leading the way, No. 24 UCLA finished fourth in the Pac-12, its best finish in three years, going 18-11 overall. May is a sociology major.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR -- MAGDA JEHLÁROVÁ, MB, WASHINGTON STATE (Prerov, Czech Republic)
Magda Jehlárová is the first-ever Cougar to win the Pac-12’s top rookie honor. In her first-collegiate season, she averaged 1.42 blocks per set, which ranks 10th in the country, while posting a Pac-12-best .366 hitting percentage. Her presence at the net makes WSU one of the top-30 blocking teams in the country, averaging 2.61 blocks per set. She was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 15 following a week which saw the Cougs sweep the Oregon schools for the first time since 2002. Also voted to the All-Pac-12 team, she was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Nov. 4 after helping WSU to a regular-season sweep of USC, its first over the Trojans since 1986. Jehlárová helped No. 23 Washington State to a fifth-place Pac-12 finish with a 12-8 record and 23-9 overall, the program’s second-straight 20-win campaign and third in four years. Jehlárová plans to study human services case management and administration (human development).

SETTER OF THE YEAR -- JENNA GRAY, SR., STANFORD (Shawnee, Kansas)
Senior Jenna Gray has put together another stellar campaign as she caps her collegiate career and leads defending national champion No. 3 Stanford into the postseason. Gray ranks ninth in the country and first in the Pac-12 in assists per set at 11.54 directing an offense that ranks in the top five in the country in hitting percentage (6th, .289), kills per set (5th, 14.71) and assists per set (3rd, 13.79). A two-time first team AVCA All-American, Gray became just the fourth player in Stanford history to surpass the 5,000-assists mark, ranking second all-time. The NCAA’s active career leader in the category, her 5,245 assists also rank 11th in Pac-12 history. Gray is the second Cardinal to win the top setter honor three times in the nine-year history of the award after former Cardinal Madi Bugg won it from 2013-25. Gray is a human biology major.

LIBERO OF THE YEAR -- MORGAN HENTZ, SR., STANFORD (Lakeside Park, Ky.)
Senior Morgan Hentz is the second student-athlete in the nine-year history of the award to win Pac-12 Libero of the Year three times. Anchoring the backline of the defending national champion No. 3 Stanford squad, she leads the Pac-12 with 4.96 digs per set, helping the Cardinal post the second-best opponent hitting percentage, limiting them to .176 hitting on the season. A two-time AVCA All-American Hentz was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week three times this season, including the final two weeks of the season. Just the third player in school history and 14th in the Pac-12 to register 2,000-career digs, she broke the Stanford career digs record and ranks fourth all-time in Pac-12 history with 2,207. Hentz is a psychology major.

COACH OF THE YEAR -- BETH LAUNIERE, UTAH
Utah head coach Beth Launiere was voted the Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the first time in her career. In her 30th season at the Utah helm, it is the fourth coaching honor for Launiere, winning the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year award three times before Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011. In 2019, the Utes have recorded their best-ever Pac-12 finish, coming in third place with a 14-6 record. The 14 Pac-12 wins are a team record. Utah is also a 22-9 going into the NCAA Tournament, the third 20-win season in four years for the team. Launiere has guided the No. 17 Utes to a fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth in seven years. She has a career record of 586-369 (.614), leading Utah to all 16 NCAA Tournament appearances.

Below is the 18-member All-Pac-12 volleyball team and seven-member Pac-12 All-Freshman team, which were also voted on by the league’s 12 head coaches. Head coaches were not allowed to vote for their own player or themselves. Among the honorees is USC’s Khalia Lanier who became the 21st student-athlete and third Trojan to earn a spot on the All-Pac-12 team all four years. Six Pac-12 teams are headed to the NCAA Tournament, which begins this week, the 20th-consecutive year the Pac-12 has sent at least six teams to the postseason.

2019 ALL-PAC-12 WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM

PLAYER, TEAM POS. HT. YR HOMETOWN
Preslie Anderson, California MB 6-2 JR Chandler, Ariz.
Kara Bajema, Washington** OH 6-2 SR Lynden, Wash.
Devyn Cross, Arizona MB 6-0 SR Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Dani Drews, Utah** OH 6-0 JR Sandy, Utah
Audriana Fitzmorris, Stanford*** O 6-6 SR Overland Park, Kan.
Lauren Forte, California MB 6-3 R-SO Tempe, Ariz.
Madeleine Gates, Stanford MB 6-3 GS San Diego, Calf.
Jenna Gray, Stanford*** S 6-1 SR Shawnee, Kan.
Jasmine Gross, USC MB 6-2 SR Portland, Ore.
Morgan Hentz, Stanford*** L 5-9 SR Lakeside Park, Ky.
Magda Jehlarova, Washington State MB 6-3 FR Prerov, Czech Republic
Kenzie Koerber, Utah OH 6-3 JR Chino Hills, Calif.
Khalia Lanier, USC**** OH 6-2 SR Scottsdale, Ariz.
Mac May, UCLA** OH 6-3 JR Dubuque, Iowa
Mima Mirkovic, California OH 5-11 JR Irvine, Calif.
Ella May Powell, Washington S 6-0 SO Fayetteville, Ark.
Savvy Simo, UCLA OH 5-10 SR Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Ronika Stone, Oregon*** MB 6-2 SR San Jose, Calif.

** two-time selection; *** three-time selection; **** four-time selection

Honorable Mention: Haylie Bennett, OSU; Alexis Dirige, WSU; Samantha Drechsel, WASH; Jenna Ewert, COLO; Maddie Haynes, CAL; Ivana Jeremic, ASU; Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres, UTAH; Kendall Kipp, STAN; Raquel Lazaro, USC; Meghan McClure, STAN; Shayne McPherson, WASH; Avie Niece, WASH; Berkeley Oblad, UTAH; Sterling Parker, COLO; Julia Patterson, ARIZ; Hannah Pukis, WASH; State Lauren Sanders, WASH; Justine Spann, COLO. 

2019 PAC-12 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

PLAYER, TEAM POS. HT. HOMETOWN
Magda Jehlarova, Washington State MB 6-3 Prerov, Czech Republic
Kendall Kipp, Stanford OH 6-5 Newport Beach, Calif.
Sterling Parker, Colorado RS/MB 6-2 Martinez, Calif.
Hannah Pukis, Washington State S 5-11 Tacoma, Wash.
Pia Timmer, Washington State OH 6-2 Emlichheim, Germany
Zoe Weatherington, Utah OH 6-2 Mint Hill, N.C.
Emilia Weske, USC OH 6-2 Potsdam, Germany