Pac-12 announces 2020 Women's Volleyball postseason honors

SAN FRANCISCO - The Pac-12 Conference announced its postseason volleyball awards today. UTAH senior outside hitter Dani Drews has been voted the Pac-12 Volleyball Player of the Year, ARIZONA’s Sofia Maldonado Diaz has been selected the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and WASHINGTON’s Keegan Cook was voted Pac-12 Volleyball Coach of the Year.  

In addition, WASHINGTON junior Ella May Powell was tabbed the Pac-12 Setter of the Year and UCLA junior Zoe Fleck was selected the Pac-12 Libero of the Year. 

PLAYER OF THE YEAR - Dani Drews, Sr., OH, UTAH (Sandy, Utah) 

The senior outside hitter, an AVCA First Team All-American last season, has led the Utes back to the NCAA Tournament, the program’s fifth straight and 17th all-time appearance. After a 13-4 season and a third-place finish in the Pac-12, the Utes were awarded the No. 14 overall seed. Among active players in the NCAA, Drews has the third most career kills with 1,667. The senior outside hitter has posted double-figure kills and led the Utes in kills in every match this season, currently leading the Conference in kills per set (5.14). She has recorded a pair of 30-kill matches this season, along with eight double-doubles. She was twice named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week this season and is the first Utah player to be named Pac-12 Player of the Year. 

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR - Sofia Maldonado Diaz, Fr., OH, ARIZONA (Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico) 

Sofia Maldonado Diaz is the first Wildcat to win the Pac-12’s top rookie honor since 2002. The outside hitter was also named to the All-Conference Team. In her first collegiate season, she finished as the top freshman in both kills per set (3.63) and aces per set (0.37), equaling the most total aces in the Pac-12 (28) and totaling the fourth most total kills in the league (272) during the regular season. Maldonado Diaz posted double-digit kills in 16-of-21 matches, including leading the Wildcats in kills in their last 15 matches. A three-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week recipient this season, Maldonado Diaz is the fifth player in program history to win a Conference yearly award.

SETTER OF THE YEAR - Ella May Powell, Jr., WASHINGTON (Fayetteville, Ark.) 

Powell is the first Husky to be named Setter of the Year and the first to receive an individual Pac-12 award since 2016. The junior averaged 10.41 assists per set in the regular season, ranking second in the Conference, to power the Pac-12 champion Huskies to the top of the league in attack percentage (.273). She also ranks ninth in the league in aces (0.33 per set). The junior currently ranks fourth in Washington program history with 3,503 career assists and also recorded her 100th career ace this season. 

LIBERO OF THE YEAR - Zoe Fleck, Jr., UCLA (Granada Hills, Calif.)

With Fleck anchoring the defense, UCLA finished the regular season at 14-6 and earned an NCAA Tournament berth. The junior libero registered double-figure digs in all 20 of the Bruins’ matches, reaching 20 digs on five separate occasions. She currently leads the Pac-12 in both digs per set (4.34) and total digs (334) en route to helping UCLA to the second-most total digs in the Conference (1114).

COACH OF THE YEAR - Keegan Cook, WASHINGTON  

Cook was voted Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the first time in his six-season tenure as head coach of the Huskies. He guided Washington to its third Pac-12 Championship with a 17-3 regular-season record and sixth NCAA Tournament bid in his six seasons. Cook’s Huskies earned the No. 6 national seed as the Pac-12’s automatic berth to the upcoming 2020 NCAA Championship. Cook now owns a record of 149-39 at UW, a .792 winning percentage that currently ranks seventh for any coach in Pac-12 history. 

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. Five Pac-12 teams are headed to the NCAA Tournament, which will be held in Omaha, Neb. from April 14-24.

2020 ALL-PAC-12 WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL TEAM

Honorable Mention: Karson Bacon, ORE; Leah Clayton, COLO; Rachael Fara, COLO; Marin Grote, WASH; Aleksandra Gryka, USC; Meegan Hart, COLO; Iman Isanovic, ASU; Saige Ka'aha'aina-Torres, UTAH; Georgia Murphy ORE; Elena Oglivie, STAN; Sterling Parker, COLO; Madelyn Robinson, UTAH; Emily Ryan, UCLA; Lauren Sanders, WASH; Merle Weidt, ARIZ.

2020 PAC-12 ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM