NEWARK, Del. - Sophomore outside hitter Katy Buck was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year Thursday evening at the banquet to kick off the CAA Volleyball Tournament. In addition, Coach Bruce Atkinson was named as the CAA Coach of the Year.
Buck becomes just the second player in program history to earn Player of the Year honors. Joining Buck on the All-CAA squads was junior setter Aubrey Kirven, who was a Second Team All-CAA pick. Freshman defensive specialist Paige Sekerak earned a spot on the CAA All-Rookie squad.
Buck joins Liz Goubeaux (2004) as the only players in program history to earn CAA Player of the Year honors. Buck, who was an All-Rookie selection last season, also earned a spot on the All-CAA First Team. Buck has started all 31 matches for the Tigers this season and has played in all 108 sets. She has recorded 440 kills, which ranks fifth in single-season history for the Tigers. Her 4.08 kills per set and 4.33 points per set lead the CAA. Buck's kills per set ranks 40th in the nation entering play this week. She has reached double digit kills in 14 straight contests and in 27 of the 31 matches. She has also contributed 30 assists, 261 digs and 25 blocked shots. Buck has nine "double-doubles" so far this season.
Atkinson is the third coach in program history to earn Coach of the Year honors (Chris Riley 2001, 2004 and Cathy Cain 1989, 1996). Atkinson is in his second season with the Tigers and has led the squad to its most wins since 2005 when the Tigers won 28 matches.
Kirven, has recorded 1,154 assists this season and ranks first in the CAA and 12th in the nation with 11.66 assists per set. Kirven has recorded 20 or more assists in all but one match this season. She has 14 matches this season that she has recorded 40 or more assists, including 60 assists in the win over Georgia State. She earned CAA Offensive Player of the Week honors twice this season. She has ten "double-doubles" on the year and 222 digs. Kirven has also recorded 89 kills and 23 blocks.
Sekerak earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team after a solid first season for the Tigers. She has a team-high 480 digs while averaging 4.44 digs per set. Sekerak has recorded double digit digs in 28 of 31 matches this season and has recorded 20 or more digs in a match six times. She has also added a team-high 33 service aces, including seven in the match at VCU. Sekerak has dished out 80 assists on the year.
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