Women's volleyball rakes in WCC postseason awards

PROVO, Utah – BYU women’s volleyball captured three individual 2015 All-West Coast Conference honors, the league announced Tuesday.

Senior outside hitter Alexa Gray led the way receiving Player of the Year honors for the second-straight year, junior middle blocker Amy Boswell was named Defensive Player of the Year and Heather Olmstead received Coach of the Year accolades.

Additionally, Gray and Boswell were added to the All-WCC First Team with senior libero Ciara Parker and junior middle blocker Whitney Young Howard making All-WCC Honorable Mention. Freshman Veronica Jones was added to the All-WCC Freshman Team to round out BYU's honors.

Gray paced the team in kills during conference play, averaging an outstanding 5.59 kills per set. She was first in the conference in kills average as well as first in points per set (6.17). Gray also placed fourth in conference hitting percentage, hitting at a .321 clip in league play.

Boswell finished second in the WCC in blocks, with an average of 1.41 per set in conference matches. Her blocking helped BYU place second in conference play in opponent hitting percentage. Boswell also placed first in individual hitting percentage, averaging a .358 clip.

In her first year at the helm, Olmstead coached the Cougars to a 26-3, 16-2 WCC record - winning the conference title outright by a two-match margin.

Parker was third in digs per set (4.27) while collecting 282 total digs in conference play to help BYU.

Last year's Defensive Player of the Year, Howard, averaged 1.24 blocks per set this season in WCC play - good for second on the team and fourth in the conference.

Jones averaged 2.06 kills per set in conference play while collecting 97 total kills, 18 blocks and 17 digs.

This is Gray’s fourth-consecutive year on the All-WCC First Team. She was also named the 2012 WCC Freshman of the Year and 2014 Player of the Year. Boswell was added last year to the All-WCC Honorable Mention squad while Howard was previously named the 2013 WCC Freshman of the Year and 2014 Defensive Player of the Year. Parker was previously added to the All-WCC Honorable Mention team in 2013. Olmstead follows in her brother Shawn's (former head coach) footsteps, who was also named WCC Coach of the Year in 2012 and 2014.

Below is a complete listing of all-conference honors:

2015 WCC PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Alexa Gray, BYU, SR, OH

2015 WCC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Amy Boswell, BYU, JR, MB

2015 WCC FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Tarah Wylie, Pepperdine, MB

2015 WCC COACH OF THE YEAR: Heather Olmstead, BYU

2015 ALL-WCC FIRST TEAM

Savannah Blinn, Gonzaga, SR, OH
Amy Boswell, BYU, JR, MB
Lexi Elman, Pacific, JR, OH
Canace Finley, San Diego, SR, OH
Alexa Gray, BYU, SR, OH
Nikki Hess, Santa Clara, JR, OH
Lisa Kramer, San Diego, JR, OH
Emily Liger, Portland, SR, OH
Kirsten Mead, Santa Clara, SR, S
Sarah Sponcil, Loyola Marymount, SO, OH
Becca Strehlow, Pepperdine, SR, S
Hannah Tedrow, Loyola Marymount, SR, S

2015 All-WCC HONORABLE MENTION

Sabrina Clayton (Santa Clara), Kristen Gengenbacher (San Diego), Ciara Parker (BYU), Katarina Pilepic (San Francisco), Danielle Rottman (Santa Clara), Rachelle Suaava (Loyola Marymount), Whitney Young Howard (BYU)

2015 ALL-WCC FRESHMAN TEAM

Heidi Dyer, Pepperdine, OH
Veronica Jones, BYU, OH
Lindsey Knudsen, Saint Mary's, OH
Anna McCreadie, Santa Clara, OPP
Madison Murtaugh, San Francisco, MB/OPP
Addie Picha, San Diego, MB
Tarah Wylie, Pepperdine, MB