Allie Barber is BIG EAST Player of the Year
11/22/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
NEW YORK-- Marquette University sophomore Allie Barber was named BIG EAST Player of the Year and a unanimous selection to the All-BIG EAST First Team, highlighting a number of notable all-league selections for the Golden Eagles, the league announced on Wednesday morning.
In addition, Hope Werch was tabbed as BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and the Marquette coaching staff was selected as Coaching Staff of the Year. Redshirt junior Jenna Rosenthal and sophomore Lauren Speckman were selected to the All-BIG EAST First and Second Team, respectively.
Barber is the third player in MU history to earn Player of the Year honors and the second to win freshman of the year and player of the year in consecutive campaigns after Autumn Bailey earned the honors in 2013 and 2014. The Cedarburg, Wis. native led the conference with 4.83 kills per set all matches and a stellar 5.28 kills in BIG EAST matches and was fifth, hitting at a .351 clip. She also led in points per set tallying 5.20 and was named ACVA/Sports Imports National Player of the Week on Oct. 31. This is the second straight season Barber has been named first team all-conference.
Werch is the second straight BIG EAST Freshman of the Year for the Golden Eagles as she opened her first collegiate season averaging 2.25 kills per set with 2.67 digs per contest. She ranked in the top-25 in hitting percentage at a .232 mark and was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week on three occasions.
Rosenthal earns her second consecutive All-BIG EAST First Team accolades leading Marquette with 1.10 blocks per set, which was fourth in the BIG EAST. The Fond du Lac, Wis. product averaged 2.52 kills per set and hit at a .341 clip, which was sixth in the league.
In her first year as the Golden Eagles' starting setter, Speckman picks up her first all-conference accolades after leading the BIG EAST with 11.57 assists per set. The San Jose, Calif. native dished out a career-high 64 assists per set against Wichita State in September, which was the second-highest assists total by a league player this season. She also ranked 16th in services aces.
Head coach Ryan Theis, along with assistant coaches Meghan Keck and Ryan Lengerich guided the Golden Eagles to a 15-3 record in BIG EAST play, the best mark for the squad since 2013. The Golden Eagles led the league with 13.51 assists per set and in service aces (1.46), while ranking a close second in kills with 14.29 per contest.
Marquette hosts the 2017 BIG EAST Tournament presented by Jeep and will open play as the No. 2 seed against No. 3 Butler on Friday, Nov. 24 at 2:30 p.m. CT, live on the BIG EAST Digital Network. The championship final is slated for Saturday, Nov. 25 at 1:30 CT on FS2.
