High Point's Abby Bottomley Voted 2020-21 Female Athlete of the Year
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (www.BigSouthSports.com) – High Point senior volleyball player Abby Bottomley (Virginia Beach, Va.) has been voted the Big South Conference Female Athlete of the Year for the 2020-21 season by the league’s Athletics Directors, Senior Woman Administrators and Sports Information Directors, it was announced today by the conference office. The candidates for the annual award consist of the Players of the Year from each sport.
Bottomley is High Point’s first-ever recipient of the conference’s Female Athlete of the Year Award and just the second volleyball player to be honored. She received 98 points and 11 first-place votes, ahead of High Point pole vaulter Sydney Horn, who was second with 78 points (nine first-place votes). Campbell softball player Destini England was third with 43 points, followed by High Point basketball guard/forward Skyler Curran (37 points). Longwood softball pitcher Sydney Backstrom (four first-place votes) and Lancers’ basketball forward Akila Smith (two first-place votes) tied for fifth in the voting with 32 points each.
This past season, Bottomley received honorable mention All-American honors from the AVCA and was named a fourth team All-American by volleyballmag.com, in addition to being selected Second-Team Academic All-America by CoSIDA -- the first in program history. The libero helped the Panthers to a perfect 16-0 regular-season record, the Big South Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament -- as well as the league’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory. The first libero ever to be voted Big South Player of the Year, Bottomley appeared in all 55 sets for HPU this past spring and tallied 285 digs, a league-leading 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 was the lone Big South player to average at least 5.00 digs per set, and her 285 digs were second-most. Her efforts helped the Panthers hold Big South opponents to a .090 hitting percentage in 16 league matches. Bottomley, who was also selected the Big South’s 2020-21 Woman of the Year co-honoree, became just the sixth player in Big South history to eclipse 2,000 career digs earlier this spring. She recorded five 20-dig matches in 2021 -- including 30 in HPU’s four-set win over Campbell on March 25, and ended her career at HPU second among active Division I volleyball players with 2,158 digs (sixth in Big South history) and a digs/set average of 5.35 (most in league annals for players with 1,500+).
In March 2000, the Big South Conference Executive Committee voted to create an annual Male and Female Student-Athlete of the Year award. The Athlete of the Year awards have been presented annually since 1999-00, with the exception of the 2019-20 due to the season being incomplete and eventually canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The annual honorees are listed below.
FEMALE ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
2020-21 - Abby Bottomley, High Point (volleyball)
2018-19 - Lauren Proctor, Winthrop (tennis)
2017-18 - Lauren Proctor, Winthrop (tennis)
2016-17 - Marthaline Cooper, Winthrop (track & field)
2015-16 - Ednah Kurgat, Liberty (cross country/track & field)
2014-15 - Megan Baltzell, Longwood (softball)
2013-14 - Dequesha McClanahan, Winthrop (basketball)
2012-13 - Brooke Short, Longwood (softball)
2011-12 - Gabrielle Houston, Charleston Southern (track & field)
2010-11 - Natalie Pearson, UNC Asheville (track & field)
2009-10 - Kristen Shifflett, Radford (softball)
2008-09 - Megan Frazee, Liberty (basketball)
2007-08 - Megan Frazee, Liberty (basketball)
2006-07 - Aruka Felgueroso, Coastal Carolina (golf)
2005-06 - Tiffany Evans, Radford (track & field)
2004-05 - Katie Feenstra, Liberty (basketball)
2003-04 - Katie Feenstra, Liberty (basketball)
2002-03 - Amber Campbell, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
2001-02 - Heather Sagan, Liberty (cross country/track & field)
2000-01 - Amber Campbell, Coastal Carolina (track & field)
1999-00 - Anthonia Akpama, Liberty (volleyball)