NEWVA Major Award Recipients
NEWVA All-New England
NEWVA All-Rookie Team
BEVERLY, Mass. - November 22, 2016 - The New England Women’s Volleyball Coaches Association (NEWVA) has released their 2016 NEWVA Annual Awards honoring the region’s Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, the All-New England Teams and All-Rookie Team.
The NEWVA Annual Award recipients are nominated by and voted on by the organization's member head coaches. The coaches represent the seven competing conferences in NCAA Division III including the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), Little East Conference (LEC), Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC), North Atlantic Conference (NAC), New England Collegiate Conference (NECC), New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
NEWVA Major Award Recipients
NEWVA Player of the Year
Lauren Holt, Sr., MB
Springfield
In her final season at Springfield, Holt led the Pride to the NCAA Division III New England Regional Final and a 29-6 (9-1 NEWMAC) record. Holt was named NEWMAC Athlete of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and to the All-Conference First Team before being named AVCA First Team All-Region and ultimately AVCA First Team All-America.
Holt averaged a career-highs with 2.87 kills and 1.60 blocks per set in her senior campaign. Holt's season totals included 347 kills, a .359 hitting percentage, 26 service aces and 193 total blocks including 58 solo. She reached a season-high 14 kills four times and twice recorded double-digit blocks including a 12-block effort on October 29 at Wellesley.
Holt is now a four-time NEWVA All-Region honoree after previously earning First Team honors in 2015 and Second Team in both 2013 and 2014.
NEWVA Rookie of the Year
Maria Coniglio, Fr., OH
Johnson & Wales (R.I.)
Coniglio stormed on to the NCAA Division III women's volleyball scene in 2016 to lead her Johnson & Wales (R.I.) squad to a historic season. Coniglio averaged 3.51 kills, 2.79 digs, and 0.45 blocks per set and for the season totaled 347 kills, a .293 hitting percentage, 49 service aces, 276 digs, and 45 total blocks.
For her efforts, Coniglio was named to the First Team All-GNAC, AVCA First Team All-Region, and an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention.
The Wildcats went undefeated at 33-0 (11-0 GNAC) through the regular season and the GNAC Tournament where they captured their second straight conference title. JWU suffered their lone loss of the 2016 season in the opening round of the NCAA Division III New England Regional with a straight-set loss to UMass Boston.
NEWVA Coach of the Year
Cora Thompson, 14th season
Tufts
Cora Thompson guided the 2016 version of her Tufts Jumbos to NCAA Division III Quarterfinals after defeating Maine Maritime, UMass Boston, and Springfield in the New England Regional Tournament. Tufts ended their memorable campaign at 27-4 in a five-set loss to Southwestern (Tex.) in the quarterfinals after going down 2-0, rebounding to win the third and fourth sets, but ultimately falling 15-13 in the fifth and deciding set.
Thompson was named NESCAC Coach of the Year for the second time in three years and for the fifth time in her 14 seasons at Tufts. She was also awarded AVCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year accolades while coaching up AVCA All-American Elizabeth Ahrens and AVCA All-Region McKenzie Humann. Freshman Kelly Klimo was also named all-conference in the NESCAC.
NEWVA All-New England
FIRST TEAM
Katie Doherty - Bowdoin
Becca Raffel - Middlebury
Megan Gebhard - MIT
Lauren Holt - Springfield
Elizabeth Ahrens - Tufts
Julia Murphy - UMass Boston
Tori Jasuta - Williams
SECOND TEAM
Quincy Leech - Bowdoin
Marina Ramos - Clark (Mass.)
Tori McIntyre - Endicott
Maria Coniglio - Johnson & Wales (R.I.)
Abby Bertics - MIT
Tori Wuthrich - MIT
Elizabeth Glavan - UMass Boston
HONORABLE MENTION
Brigid Bell - Tufts
Caroline Flaharty - Bowdoin
Alycia Rackliffe - Framingham St.
Lauren Silverman - Rivier
Kayleigh Helgesen - Springfield
Anagabrielle Sanchez - Springfield
Kelly Klimo - Tufts
NEWVA All-Rookie Team*
Elizabeth Cameron - Babson
Caroline Flaharty - Bowdoin
Zoey Gifford - Endicott
Maria Coniglio - Johnson & Wales (R.I.)
Morgan Weeg - Simmons
Anagabrielle Sanchez - Springfield
Rachel Furash - Tufts
Kelly Klimo - Tufts
* One additional student-athlete recognized due to a tie in the voting.