Illini Quartet Collects Big Ten Postseason Accolades
December 1, 2015 | Volleyball
Birks Named to the B1G First-Team, Bastianelli, Poulter Earn All-Freshman Team Honors
ROSEMONT, Ill. – With the NCAA Tournament just around the corner, the Big Ten released its postseason honors Tuesday (Dec. 1) morning, with four Fighting Illini volleyball players earning accolades. Redshirt-senior Jocelynn Birks earned her third-straight All-Big Ten accolade, while freshman Ali Bastianelli and Jordyn Poulter garnered spots on the All-Big Ten Freshman team. Rounding out the Illini awards was senior Ali Stark being selected as UI's Big Ten Sportsmanship Award recipient.
An outside hitter from Willow Springs, Ill., Birks is finishing off her Illini career in grand fashion as the senior became the program's all-time kills and attacks leader earlier this season and currently owns 1,926 kills in 5,534 attempts. She also became just the 12th player in program history to register 1,000 digs in her career and sits in a tie for seventh with 1,127 career digs.
In her final season in the Orange and Blue, Birks leads the Illini and ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 389 kills and is second in the conference with 3.89 kills per set. Along with her offensive prowess, she ranks second on the team with 251 digs and has one 20-dig performance in 2015. The elementary education major owns 12 double doubles on the year and has registered five 20-kill matches in 2015. A preseason All-Big Ten pick, she was named to the all-tournament teams at the Illini Classic, the B1G/Pac-12 Challenge and the Shocker Classic.
"Jocelyn has been one of the best players in the league for a long time," said head coach Kevin Hambly. "She was a leader this year and for her to recognized once again is not a surprise to me, it just solidifies her as one of the best players to wear the Illini uniform."
After strong rookie campaigns, classmates Ali Bastianelli and Jordyn Poulter become the second-straight Illini honorees named to the All-Freshman Team after sophomore libero Brandi Donnelly took come accolades a season ago.
Poulter has started 26 matches at the setter position for the Illini this season, playing in 29 of UI's 31 matches. She has paced the offense with 974 assists and ranks sixth in the conference with 10.36 assists per set. She led the Illini attack to a .229 hitting percentage and owns 197 digs, 73 blocks, including 10 solo blocks, 49 kills, and 11 service aces. The Aurora, Colo., native has totaled seven double-doubles and one 20-dig performance, including posting season-highs of 59 assists and 21 digs in a five-set battle with No. 4 Minnesota. She is a two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week as well as earning Big Ten Setter of the Week honors and was named to the B1G/Pac-12 Challenge All-Tournament Team.
A middle blocker from Marysville, Mich., Bastianelli has become one of the best blockers in the Big Ten throughout her rookie campaign, starting all but one match for the Illini. She leads the conference and ranks 21st in the NCAA with 150 total blocks, including 14 solo stuffs, while also ranking second in the league and 25th in the nation with 1.36 blocks per set. In conference action, Bastianelli sit second in both blocks (110) and blocks per set (1.5). She has also notched 116 kills on 293 swings for a .225 hitting percentage in her first season in the Orange and Blue. She earned back-to-back B1G Defensive Player of the Week honors earlier this season and is coming off of a career performance against Michigan last Friday as she recorded her first career double-double with season-highs of 11 kills and 11 blocks in her home state.
"Jordyn and Ali B. have both gotten better every week with this last week being their best," said Hambly. "I am excited about their future here and the fact that they get to play together for three more years is going to give us an exciting foundation for the future of the program."
Senior opposite hitter Ali Stark was the fourth and final Illini to earn Big Ten honors as she was selected for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. Stark is one of only two Illini to play in all 112 sets this season and has started 14 matches in her final campaign. She leads UI with 23 service aces, while also totaling 70 kills, 53 assists, 196 digs and 21 total blocks. She opened her final season as an Illini with a bang as she was named to the Illini Classic All-Tournament Team after posting 18 kills, 21 digs, six blocks, five assists and two aces en route to leading UI to the Illini Classic title.
"Ali is one of the classiest human beings I have been around in my time here," said Hambly. "She carries herself with grace and dignity and the fact that she received the award is no surprise."
Minnesota's Daly Santana was tabbed the Big Ten Player of the Year by a vote of the conference's coaches, while Nebraska's Justine Wong-Orantes was tabbed the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. Wisconsin's Lauren Carlini took home Setter of the Year honors for the second-straight season and the Golden Gophers' Samantha Seliger-Swenson earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. After leading his team to their second Big Ten Championship, Minnesota head coach Hugh McCutcheon was named Big Ten Coach of the Year by the conference's coaches and media contingent.
Santana led the Golden Gophers to their second Big Ten Championship, leading the conference in kills per set (4.37) while ranking fifth in service aces per set (0.35) during Big Ten play. The Corozal, Puerto Rico native has registered 17 double-doubles heading into the postseason and boasts 28 matches with 10 or more kills. Santana is the fourth player in Minnesota history to be named Big Ten Player of the Year and first since Cassie Busse in 2003.
Wong-Orantes led the conference in digs per set (4.57) during Big Ten play and becomes the first Nebraska player to earn Defensive Player of the Year accolades. Wong-Orantes collected Defensive Player of the Week honors twice during the regular season.
Carlini tallied the most set assists among Big Ten players during Big Ten play, averaging 11.99 per set. In all games, she ranks seventh nationally with a mark of 11.91 assists per frame. Carlini wins her second straight Big Ten Setter of the Year award and fourth Big Ten individual award after being named Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2013, and Player of the Year last season.
Seliger-Swenson ranked second in the conference with 11.60 assists per set during Big Ten play. She is the third player in school history to win the award and the first Minnesota freshman in more than 20 years to earn the distinction since Katrien DeDecker in 1993.
McCutcheon earned top billing among the conference's coaches and media for the first time after guiding Minnesota to a 26-4 overall record, an 18-2 mark in Big Ten play and the outright Big Ten Championship. In his fourth year with the program, the Gophers also earned the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. McCutcheon's award marks Minnesota's third Coach of the Year honor from both the coaches and media.
The Illini will next head to Louisville, Ky., for the NCAA Tournament as they face Southern Illinois in the first round on Friday (Dec. 4) at 4 p.m. CT in Cardinal Arena.
For more Fighting Illini volleyball news, stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com and follow the team on Twitter @IlliniVBall or like Fighting Illini Volleyball on Facebook.
ALL-BIG TEN
Jocelynn Birks, Sr., OH, ILL
Abby Cole, Jr., OPP, MICH
DALY SANTANA, Sr., OH, MINN
Samantha Seliger-Swenson, Fr., S, MINN
HANNAH TAPP, Jr., OPP, MINN
Amber Rolfzen, Jr., MB, NEB
KADIE ROLFZEN, Jr., OH, NEB
TAYLOR SANDBOTHE, Jr., MB, OSU
Megan Courtney, Sr., OH, PSU
HALEIGH WASHINGTON, So., MB, PSU
Aiyana Whitney, Sr., MB, PSU
ANNIE DREWS, Sr., OPP, PUR
LAUREN CARLINI, Jr., S, WIS
Haleigh Nelson, Jr., MB, WIS
HONORABLE MENTION
Adreene Elliott, Sr., OH, MD
Chloe Reinig, Jr., OH, MSU
Paige Tapp, Jr., MB, MINN
Justine Wong-Orantes, Jr., L, NEB
Taylor Tashima, So., S, NU
Elizabeth Campbell, Sr., OPP, OSU
Faye Adelaja, Jr., MB, Purdue
Taylor Morey, Sr., L, WIS
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Ali Bastianelli, MB, ILL
Jordyn Poulter, S, ILL
SAMANTHA SELIGER-SWENSON, S, MINN
MIKAELA FOECKE, OH, NEB
AUDRA APPOLD, OH, OSU
Taylor Hughes, S, OSU
TIONNA WILLIAMS, MB, WIS
Unanimous selections in CAPS
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Daly Santana, MINN
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Justine Wong-Orantes, NEB
SETTER OF THE YEAR
Lauren Carlini, WIS
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Samantha Seliger-Swenson, MINN
COACH OF THE YEAR (COACHES AND MEDIA)
Hugh McCutcheon, MINN
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES
Ali Stark, ILL
Courtney Harnish, IND
Erin Radke, IOWA
Abigail Bentz, MD
Kelly Murphy, MICH
Halle Peterson, MSU
Paige Tapp, MINN
Sydney Townsend, NEB
Kayla Morin, NU
Emily Ruetter, OSU
Kendall Pierce, PSU
Amanda Neill, PUR
Ali Schroeter, RU
Taylor Morey, WIS
