Taylor Wolf of Marquette and Rachele Rastelli of St. John's both earned BIG EAST Co-Players of the Year. Butler's Jaymeson Kinley earned BIG EAST Libero of the Year, while UConn's McKayla Wuensch was named BIG EAST Setter of the Year. Creighton's Norah Sis received BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors, and the award for BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year went to DePaul.
Along with the major awards, the BIG EAST announced an 18-person All-BIG EAST team and a six-person All-Freshman team. Thirteen of the 18 All-BIG EAST honorees and two of six All-Freshman honorees will be competing in the BIG EAST Championship that starts Friday with the semifinals at the Al McGuire Center. All four BIG EAST Championship teams – UConn, Creighton, DePaul and Marquette – were represented on the All-BIG EAST Team. Additionally, seven All-BIG EAST honorees from last season were honored once again this season.
For the first time in BIG EAST Volleyball history, two players will share the Player of the Year Award. Marquette's Taylor Wolf was one of the best all-around players in the conference this season, making her presence felt both offensively and defensively. Wolf ranked in the top-10 in the conference in both kills per set (2.89) and digs per set (3.50), while also adding in 5.42 assists per set to rank 11th in the BIG EAST in that category. The graduate also collected five triple doubles during BIG EAST play, the most in a single season since Seton Hall's Shelbey Manthorpe back in 2013. Wolf's seven triple-doubles overall on the season are tied for the second most in the country.
Sharing the honors with Wolf is Rachele Rastelli of St. John's. The senior was the only player in the BIG EAST this season to average north of four kills per set, and her 4.64 kills during conference play led the league by nearly an entire kill per set. Rastelli had the three highest match kill totals among BIG EAST players this season, including a career-high 35 kills against Georgetown on Oct. 29. The Parma, Italy native had seven matches with 20+ kills, just two shy of tying the BIG EAST record for such matches in a single season. Rastelli's 475 total kills on the season ranked 12th in the country.
Kinley earns BIG EAST Libero of the Year honors after a stellar junior season for Butler. The Lexington, Ky. native led the BIG EAST with 5.41 digs per set, finishing just shy of 600 total digs for the season. Kinley had nine matches during league play in which she recorded 20+ digs, and had 15 such matches on the season overall. Her digs per set average during conference play soared to 5.66, which led the second-place finisher in that category by one full dig per set. Libero of the Year seems to run in the family with the Kinley's, as her sister Keyton was a two-time Big 12 Libero of the Year at Oklahoma in 2018 and 2019.
Wuensch earns BIG EAST Setter of the Year honors, an award that returns for the first time since 2002. The Wichita State transfer was just one of two players to average over 10 assists per set during conference play, checking in at 10.2 helpers per frame. Perhaps Wuensch's most eye-catching performance came on Oct. 31 against Butler, where she recorded 47 assists in just three sets in a win over Butler. Wuensch surpassed the 40 assist mark seven times on the season, including a season-high 49 assists in the regular season finale against Xavier.
Sis becomes the second Creighton freshman in three seasons to earn BIG EAST Freshman of the Year honors. Her numbers on the season were right up there with some of the veterans of the conference, as she ranked third in kills per set overall this season at 3.65. Sis also led her team in kills and points, and ranked third on the Bluejays in digs at 2.98. The Papillion, Neb. native was just one of two players in the BIG EAST to average over 3.00 kills and 3.00 digs per set during conference play, the other being teammate Jaela Zimmerman.
DePaul's Marie Zidek leads the BIG EAST Coaching Staff of the Year. Zidek and the rest of her staff helped lead the Blue Demons, who have been a league member since 2005, to their first ever appearance in the BIG EAST Volleyball Championship. DePaul's 19 wins on the season are the most in a season for the program since 2001. Additionally, the team finished above .500 on the season for just the second time since joining the BIG EAST. DePaul was especially strong to close out the season, winning each of its last six matches heading into the BIG EAST Championships. Zidek is assisted on the sidelines by Erin Higgins, Nick Vogel and Tenisha Wilkins.
No. 1 seed Creighton had the most players on the All-BIG EAST team with four. In addition to Sis, senior libero Abby Bottomley, freshman setter Kendra Wait and senior outside hitter Jaela Zimmerman all were honored. Both Sis and Zimmerman were unanimously named to the team.
Second-seeded Marquette saw three of its players honored. Alongside Wolf were graduate middle blocker Savannah Rennie and graduate outside hitter Hope Werch. All three were named to the All-BIG EAST team in the spring, while Werch also got the nod back in 2019.
No. 3 seed UConn also had a trio of players named to the All-BIG EAST team. Wuensch was joined by senior outside hitter Caylee Parker, who was a unanimous choice, as well as senior middle blocker Kennadie Jake-Turner.
Fourth-seeded DePaul had three players named to the team as well. Senior middle blocker Donna Brown, sophomore outside hitter Jill Pressly, and graduate right side Emma Price were all honored. This is Brown's second appearance on the All-BIG EAST team, as she was named in 2019 as well. Pressly was named to the All-Freshman Team during the 2020 season.
Also on the All-BIG EAST team is Butler senior senior middle blocker Melody Davidson, who finished the season sixth in the BIG EAST in kills per set and third in blocks per set. Davidson has now made the All-BIG EAST team each of the last three seasons. Ariadni Kathariou of St. John's led the BIG EAST in blocks and joins Rastelli on the team. Xavier's Carrigan O'Reilly also earns a spot on the All-BIG EAST team after ranking in the top-five in the BIG EAST in assists per set.
The All-BIG EAST Freshman team is led by four unanimous selections. Norah Sis and Kendra Wait of Creighton, Shaliyah Rhoden of Providence and Giorgia Walther of St. John's were all voted to the team unanimously. Butler's Mariah Grunze and Villanova's Rose Crist round out the team.
The 2021 BIG EAST regular season awards and all-conference teams are listed below. The all-league teams are listed alphabetically by school.
The All-BIG EAST team, All-BIG EAST Freshman team and major awards were voted on by the league's 11 head coaches. The coaches could not cast ballots for their own team or players.
2021 BIG EAST Volleyball Regular Season Awards
BIG EAST Co-Players of the Year
Taylor Wolf, Marquette, Gr., S/RS
Rachele Rastelli, St. John's, Sr., RS
BIG EAST Libero of the Year
Jaymeson Kinley, Butler, Jr., L
BIG EAST Setter of the Year
McKayla Wuensch, UConn, Gr., S
BIG EAST Freshman of the Year
Norah Sis, Creighton, Fr., OH
Coaching Staff of the Year
DePaul (Head Coach: Marie Zidek)
All-BIG EAST Team
(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Melody Davidson, Butler, R-Sr., MB ^
Jaymeson Kinley, Butler, Jr., L ^
Kennadie Jake-Turner, UConn Sr., MB
Caylee Parker, UConn, Sr., OH ^
McKayla Wuensch, UConn, Gr., S
Abby Bottomley, Creighton, Sr., L
Norah Sis, Creighton, Fr., OH ^
Kendra Wait, Creighton, Fr., S
Jaela Zimmerman, Creighton, Sr., OH ^
Donna Brown, DePaul, Sr., MB
Jill Pressly, DePaul, So., OH
Emma Price, DePaul, Gr., RS
Savannah Rennie, Marquette, Gr., MB
Hope Werch, Marquette, Gr., OH ^
Taylor Wolf, Marquette, Gr., S/RS ^
Ariadni Kathariou, St. John's, Sr., MB
Rachele Rastelli, St. John's, Sr., RS ^
Carrigan O'Reilly, Xavier, Jr., S
All-BIG EAST Freshman Team
(listed alphabetically by institution, then last name)
Mariah Grunze, Butler, Fr., OH
Norah Sis, Creighton, Fr., OH ^
Kendra Wait, Creighton, Fr., S ^
Shaliyah Rhoden, Providence, Fr., OH ^
Giorgia Walther, St. John's, Fr., OH ^
Rose Crist, Villanova, Fr., OH
^ - denotes unanimous selection