SAN BRUNO, Calif. – West Coast Conference Champion LMU collected three major accolades in the 2024 West Coast Conference Volleyball All-Conference awards, as the WCC announced its major award winners and all-conference teams on Monday.
All five individual awards as well as the all-conference teams were voted on solely by the WCC's 11 head coaches. The all-conference first team and second team are normally comprised of 16 and six members, respectively, but this year's teams were 17 and seven due to ties in voting.
LMU head coach Trent Kersten was tabbed the WCC Coach of the Year, while standout Sam Hastings was named the WCC Libero of the Year. Hastings' teammate Mia Schafer was tabbed the WCC Co-Setter of the Year.
Alexa Edwards from Pacific won WCC Player of the Year. San Diego won two awards as Isabel Clark was named the WCC Freshman of the Year and fellow USD freshman Kylie Munday won WCC Co-Setter of the Year.
Kersten picked up WCC Coach of the Year accolades for the first time in his career. The last time a Lion won Coach of the Year was Steve Stratos in 1996, winning the award for three years in a row from 1994-96. Kersten led his Lions to a 16-2 record in conference play, 24-5 overall. LMU was undefeated on the home court this season, and one of the Lions' big non-conference wins came over then-No. 7 SMU.
Since the award's inception in 1985, Edwards became the first Pacific student-athlete to win WCC Player of the Year. Edwards paced the WCC in points (4.82) and in kills (4.35). She was the only WCC player this season to average over four kills per set. She also ranked No. 31 in the nation in that category, as well. Edwards' strong play guided the Tigers to a five-set win at home over eventual WCC champion LMU.
A three-time Credit Union 1 WCC Defensive Player of the Week in 2024, Hastings was a leader for the Lions during their championship run. Hastings is the first Lion to win Libero of the Year since the award began in 2019. It was previously identified as Defensive Player of the Year. Hastings ranked fifth in the league in digs (3.89).
Fellow Lion Schafer is the first LMU student-athlete to win WCC Setter of the Year since the award began in 2019. She concluded the regular season recording double-digit digs in three of the last four matches.
Following her teammate Nemo Beach from last season, for the second straight year the WCC Freshman of the Year was a Torero as Clark achieved the honor in 2024. Clark, who was the recipient of two of the last four Credit Union 1 WCC Freshman of the Week awards, was also tabbed the Credit Union 1 WCC Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 11.
Part of a trio of Toreros who were named to the WCC All-Freshman team along with Clark and Kennedy Osunsanmi, Munday became the third Torero to win WCC Setter of the Year (Gabby Blossom in 2022 and Anna Newsome in 2019). Munday led the league in assists (9.50). She was one of only three WCC players to average more than nine assists per set.
Among the first-team honorees, Pepperdine's Grace Chillingworth picked up All-WCC First Team accolades for the third time, while Edwards, Hastings and Birdie Hendrickson from Pepperdine picked up first-team honors for the second straight time.
2024 WCC VOLLEYBALL AWARDS
| WCC COACH OF THE YEAR |
| Trent Kersten |
LMU |
| WCC PLAYER OF THE YEAR |
| Alexa Edwards |
Pacific |
Gr. |
| WCC CO-SETTER OF THE YEAR |
| Kylie Munday |
San Diego |
Fr. |
| Mia Schafer |
LMU |
Sr. |
| WCC LIBERO OF THE YEAR |
| Sam Hastings |
LMU |
Sr. |
| WCC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR |
| Isabel Clark |
San Diego |
OH |
ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM
| NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
YEAR |
| Genevieve Bane |
Saint Mary's |
OH |
Jr. |
| Sage Brustad |
Washington State |
OH |
Sr. |
| Grace Chillingworth |
Pepperdine |
OH/OPP |
Sr. |
| Isabel Clark |
San Diego |
OH |
Fr. |
| Alexa Edwards |
Pacific |
OH |
Gr. |
| Kristen Erland |
San Diego |
MB |
Sr. |
| Paige Flickinger |
LMU |
OH |
Sr. |
| Sam Hastings |
LMU |
LB |
Sr. |
| Birdie Hendrickson |
Pepperdine |
OH/OPP |
Gr. |
| Annika Hester |
Oregon State |
OPP |
Sr. |
| Taina Kaauwai |
Portland |
MB |
So. |
| Sophia Myers |
LMU |
OH |
Sr. |
| Ella Piskorz |
Pepperdine |
MB |
Fr. |
| Lauren Rumel |
Oregon State |
OH/MB |
Jr. |
| Katy Ryan |
Washington State |
OH |
Sr. |
| Mia Schafer |
LMU |
S |
Sr. |
| Haylee Stoner |
San Diego |
MB |
Sr. |
ALL-WCC SECOND TEAM
| NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
YEAR |
| Aylen Ayub |
San Francisco |
S |
Sr. |
| Nemo Beach |
San Diego |
OH |
So. |
| Lucie Blažková |
Washington State |
MB |
So. |
| Alayna Crabtree |
Santa Clara |
OH |
Gr. |
| Hayden Goodman |
San Francisco |
MB |
Sr. |
| Jiana Lawson |
LMU |
MB |
Sr. |
| Trinity Stanger |
Pepperdine |
L/DS |
Sr. |
ALL-WCC FRESHMAN TEAM
| NAME |
SCHOOL |
POSITION |
| Marlee Arrington |
LMU |
OH |
| Lucie Blažková |
Washington State |
MB |
| Isabel Clark |
San Diego |
OH |
| Kylie Munday |
San Diego |
S |
| Kennedy Osunsanmi |
San Diego |
OPP |
| Ella Piskorz |
Pepperdine |
MB |
| Chloe Pravednikov |
Pepperdine |
OH |
ALL-WCC HONORABLE MENTION
| NAME |
SCHOOL |
| Madi Allen |
San Diego |
| Grace Flanagan |
Santa Clara |
| Kalani Hayes |
LMU |
| Jenna Heller |
Pacific |
| Havannah Hoeft |
Portland |
| Clarissa Klein |
Saint Mary's |
| Kennedy Osunsanmi |
San Diego |
| Astrid Puig |
San Francisco |
| Maui Robins |
Portland |
| Jayhlin Swain |
Pacific |
| Layla Truitt |
Santa Clara |
| Emily Van Groningen |
Pacific |