SAN BRUNO, Calif. --- After spending the bulk of the 2019 season ranked in the top-25, BYU and San Diego combined to sweep the 2019 West Coast Conference major individual honors and placed a total of 10 student-athletes on the All-WCC first and second teams.
BYU senior All-American
McKenna Miller was voted the 2019 Player of the Year while senior libero
Mary Lake secured WCC Libero (formerly Defensive Player) of the Year honors for the third straight year. San Diego senior
Anna Newsome collected inaugural Setter of the Year honors, while teammate opposite hitter
Grace Frohling earned WCC Freshman of the Year accolades for the Toreros. USD's
Jennifer Petrie was selected as the Coach of the Year for the sixth time. All five major individual awards – including the all-conference and all-freshman teams – were voted on solely by the WCC's 10 head coaches.
Miller was the focal point of the one of the most efficient offenses in the country as the Cougars ranked 19th nationally in attack percentage (.275). The outside hitter averaged 4.71 kills per set, good for 11th among Division I leaders and was fifth in points per set (5.47). During conference play, Miller averaged 3.59 kills per set on .310 attacking. Miller is the fifth Cougar to earn Player of the Year honors and second consecutive to two-time All-American and 2018 National Player of the Year finalist
Roni Jones-Perry.
Lake is the third Cougar to capture Libero of the Year (formerly Defensive Player of the Year) honors and is the second student-athlete to do so in three consecutive seasons, joining current AVP professional
Betsi Metter won three straight honors (2011-13) for LMU. Lake ranked eighth among conference leaders in digs (3.55 per set) while keying one of the league’s top defensive units. Lake finished the regular season with 1,877 career digs – the most in BYU history and good for third place on the WCC all-time chart.
Newsome enjoyed a remarkable senior campaign guiding the Toreros to its first outright WCC Championship since 2013 and 11th overall. Under her orchestration, San Diego boasted a potent offense ranked seventh nationally in attack percentage (.286) and 21st in kills per set (14.07) – both numbers tops in the WCC. Newsome averaged 10.12 assists per set during conference play to go along with 2.33 digs and 0.30 blocks per set.
Frohling made an immediate impact for the Toreros in her debut season. The opposite hitter averaged 2.39 kills on .259 attacking to go along with 0.65 blocks and 0.34 service aces during WCC action. Frohling is the first San Diego student-athlete (ninth overall) to capture top frosh honors and the first since 2017, joining teammate Roxie Wiblin (2017).
This is the sixth WCC Coach of the Year honor for Petrie, who propelled San Diego its 11th WCC Championship in 2019, matching Pepperdine for most in conference history. Along the way, Petrie collected her 400th career victory, directed the Toreros a 13-match winning streak and a pair of 9-match strings. San Diego opens play in its 10th straight NCAA Volleyball Championship Friday, Dec. 6 against Washington State in Hawaii.
This year’s first team features four student-athletes making a repeat appearance, led by BYU’s Lake and Miller making their third straight all-conference squad. Pepperdine senior outside hitter
Hannah Frohling (older sister of USD’s Grace Frohling) and 2018 National Freshman of the Year
Heather Gneiting appear on the first team for the second time. For the first time in conference history 11 of the 12 capturing first team honors will compete in the NCAA Tournament.
BYU and San Diego will compete in the 2019 NCAA Tournament as announced Sunday on ESPNU. This is the ninth straight year that at least two WCC programs have advanced to the NCAA Tournament. In addition, Santa Clara earned a berth in the 2019 NIVC Tournament beginning Thursday, Nov. 29.
2019 WCC Volleyball Major Honors
Player of the Year: McKenna Miller, Sr., OH – BYU
Libero of the Year: Mary Lake, Sr., LIB – BYU
Setter of the Year: Anna Newsome, Sr., S – San Diego
Freshman of the Year: Grace Frohling, Fr., OPP – San Diego
Coach of the Year: Jennifer Petrie, San Diego
2019 All-WCC Volleyball First Team
| Name |
Institution |
Yr. |
Pos. |
| Whitney Bower |
BYU |
Fr. |
S |
| Kennedy Eschenberg |
BYU |
Jr. |
MB |
| Thana Fayad |
San Diego |
Sr. |
OH |
| Grace Frohling |
San Diego |
Fr. |
OPP |
| Hannah Frohling |
Pepperdine |
Sr. |
OH |
| Kathya Garcia |
San Francisco |
Sr. |
OH |
| Heather Gneiting |
BYU |
So. |
MB |
| Megan Jacobsen |
San Diego |
Sr. |
MB |
| Mary Lake |
BYU |
Sr. |
LIB |
| McKenna Miller |
BYU |
Sr. |
OH |
| Anna Newsome |
San Diego |
Sr. |
S |
| Taylor Odom |
Santa Clara |
Sr. |
MB |
| Tess Reid |
LMU |
Sr. |
S |
| Shannon Scully |
Pepperdine |
Jr. |
OH |
| Savannah Slattery |
LMU |
Sr. |
OH |
| Tarah Wylie |
Pepperdine |
Sr. |
MB |
2019 All-WCC Volleyball Second Team
| Name |
Institution |
Yr. |
Pos. |
| Rachel Ahrens |
Pepperdine |
So. |
OH/OPP |
| Shayla Hoeft |
Portland |
Sr. |
MB |
| Katie Lukes |
San Diego |
So. |
OH |
| Riley Patterson |
Pacific |
So. |
OPP |
| Julia Sangiacomo |
Santa Clara |
Fr. |
OH |
| Jadyn Tubbs |
Pacific |
So. |
LIB |
HONORABLE MENTION
Gonzaga: Sarah Penner
Pepperdine: Hana Lishman
Portland: Liz Reich
Saint Mary’s: Breyan Ashley, Alexa “Crash” Parker, Aubrey Pitts
San Diego: Annie Benbow, Lauren Turner
San Francisco: Anna Dalla Vecchia
Santa Clara: Allison Kantor, Michelle Shaffer
2019 WCC All-Freshman Team
| Name |
Institution |
Pos. |
| Whitney Bower |
BYU |
S |
| Grace Frohling |
San Diego |
OPP |
| Kate Grimmer |
BYU |
OPP |
| Julia Sangiacomo |
Santa Clara |
OH |
| Lauren Turner |
San Diego |
MB |
| Emme Walters |
LMU |
MB |
| Isabel Zelaya |
Pepperdine |
S/OPP |