Big South Announces 2021 Spring Volleyball Award Winners
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) –- High Point senior libero Abby Bottomley (Virginia Beach, Va.) has been voted the 2021 Big South Conference Spring Volleyball Player of the Year, while Panthers’ head coach Ryan Meek was selected Coach of the Year by the league’s head coaches, it was announced this afternoon by the conference office. In addition, Campbell outside hitter Chloe Cook (Nacogdoches, Texas) was voted Freshman of the Year, and UNC Asheville junior setter Grace Volk (Arlington, Neb.) was selected Scholar-Athlete of the Year by the league’s sports information directors.
Bottomley is the first libero ever to be voted Big South Player of the Year, and is the first Panther with the postseason honor since former teammate Molly Livingston in 2018. Bottomley appeared in all 55 sets for HPU this spring and tallied 285 digs, 5.18 digs per set, 27 service aces, 0.49 service aces per set, and 62 assists. Her 27 total service aces were the most in the Big South this spring, while her per set average ranked second among the league leaders. Bottomley also paced the conference with her 5.18 digs per set -- the lone player to average at least 5.00, and her 285 digs were second-most. Her efforts helped the Panthers hold its Big South opponents to a .090 hitting percentage in 16 league matches. Bottomley, who became just the sixth player in Big South history to eclipse 2,000 career digs earlier this spring, recorded five 20-dig matches this season -- including 30 in HPU’s four-set win over Campbell on March 25. She received two first-place votes and 134 total points in the voting to earn a spot on the All-Conference First-Team, and finished ahead of teammates Annie Sullivan (132 points, three first-place votes) and Kaley Rammelsberg (129 points) for Player of the Year honors.
Meek collects his first Big South Coach of the Year honor after leading High Point to a perfect 16-0 Big South record and the outright Big South Championship during the 2021 conference-only spring season –- the program’s third outright title in four years. The Panthers’ posted the league’s first 16-0 conference season since 2017, and tallied 11 overall 3-0 sweeps -- including seven consecutive from Feb. 5-March 5. High Point was 3-0 in four-set matches and won both of its five-set matches played. As a team, High Point finished the regular-season as the league leader in hitting percentage (.296), opponent hitting percentage (.090), assists (712), kills (765), kills per set (13.91) and service aces (93). The third-year coach finished with eight first-place votes and 24 points in the voting, ahead of Campbell’s Greg Goral (nine points).
Cook is Campbell’s second Big South Freshman of the Year honoree in three seasons. She finished the 2021 spring campaign with 138 kills, 2.65 kills per set, a .179 hitting percentage, 15 service aces, 68 digs, 1.31 digs per set, 161.0 points and 3.10 points per set. A four-time Big South Freshman of the Week honoree this spring, Cook ranked ninth in the conference with 2.65 kills per set. She received three first-place votes and 50 total points in the freshman voting, ahead of USC Upstate’s Nikki Deslatte (42 points and one first-place vote).
Volk is a 4.0 student in Chemistry, and recently received the Goldwater Scholarship -- the preeminent national award for an undergraduate student in the natural sciences, engineering, or mathematics. She played all 59 sets this spring, totaled 493 assists (8.36 per set – second in the Big South), 13 service aces and 160 digs (2.71 per set). Volk is the first UNC Asheville player to be voted Big South Volleyball Scholar-Athlete of the Year since 1997 and second overall.
The conference also announced on Wednesday the complete All-Conference Team, which features a seven-member First- and Second-Team and five-member Honorable Mention squad (plus any ties), as well as the All-Freshman Team and All-Academic Team, all of which are listed below.
2021 Big South Conference Spring Volleyball Award Winners
First-Team All-Conference
Abby Bottomley, LIB, Sr., High Point
Annie Sullivan, OH, Soph., High Point
Kaley Rammelsberg, MB, Soph., High Point
Paige Reagor, MB, Soph., Charleston Southern
Lailah Green, OH, Soph., Campbell
Morgan Bossler, MB, Sr., Winthrop
Madison Smith, OH, R-Soph., High Point
Second-Team All-Conference
Gabrielle Idlebird, MB, Jr., High Point
Peyton McClinton, OH, Jr., UNC Asheville
Peyton Thompson, OH/RS, Jr., Charleston Southern
Erin Cooke, S/RS, Jr., Presbyterian College
Dayana Chara, OH, Jr., Charleston Southern
Chloe Cook, OH, Fr., Campbell
Claranne Fechter, LIB, Fr., Campbell
Honorable Mention All-Conference
Mackenzi Thornburg/Maria Miggins, S (6-2), High Point
Sarah Colla, OH, Jr., Campbell
Melody Paige, MB, Soph., Campbell
Emily Wunder, OPP, Jr., Winthrop
Nikkia Benitez, OH, Sr., Winthrop
All-Freshman Team
Chloe Cook, OH, Campbell
Nikki Deslatte, MB, USC Upstate
Claranne Fechter, LIB, Campbell
Anna Hewitt, LIB, Presbyterian College
Indigo Young, MB, Charleston Southern
Brookelynn Thomas, OPP, Winthrop
Olivia Blackketter, MB, Winthrop
All-Academic Team
Hailey Wilson, MB, Jr., Campbell
Peyton Thompson, OH, Jr., Charleston Southern
Kylee Garrison, OH, Jr., Gardner-Webb
Brooklyn Irvin, S, Jr., Hampton
Abby Bottomley, DS/L, Sr., High Point
Trinity Williams, OH, Jr., Presbyterian College
Grace Green, DS, Jr., Radford
Grace Volk, S, Jr., UNC Asheville
Mackenzie Marcum, LIB, Jr., USC Upstate
Morgan Bossler, MB, Sr., Winthrop
Player of the Year
Abby Bottomley, LIB, Sr., High Point
Freshman of the Year
Chloe Cook, OH, Campbell
Coach of the Year
Ryan Meek, High Point
Scholar-Athlete of the Year
Grace Volk, S, Jr., UNC Asheville