Women's Volleyball

ACC Unveils 2023 Volleyball Awards

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (theACC.com) – Atlantic Coast Conference Co-Champions Florida State and Pitt, along with Louisville, all earned a pair of volleyball season awards to headline the 2023 ACC Volleyball honors announced Monday. ACC season awards, as well as the All-ACC teams, were determined by a vote of the league’s 15 head coaches.

Outside hitters Audrey Koenig of Florida State and Anna DeBeer of Louisville shared ACC Player of the Year honors, while DeBeer’s teammate, libero Elena Scott was named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year.

Pitt’s Rachel Fairbanks was tabbed the ACC Setter of the Year and the Panthers’ Olivia Babcock was voted the ACC Freshman of the Year.
 
All five award winners were named to the All-ACC First Team with Babcock also landing on the All-Freshman team.
 
After leading the Seminoles to a 23-8, 16-2, regular season record and first ACC Championship since 2012, Chris Poole was named the ACC Coach of the Year for the third time in his career and for the first time since 2011.

Koenig averaged 3.42 kills per set, hitting at a .308 clip with a .420 kill percentage and 10 double-doubles in league play to lead Florida State to its first ACC title since 2012. The junior posted 236 kills, 192 digs (2.78 per set), 33 blocks, 14 service aces and 10 assists on the year. The Wesley Chapel, Florida, native also claimed back-to-back ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors this season.
 
DeBeer totaled 216 kills, averaging 3.32 per set in conference play, to guide Louisville to a No. 2 seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. She hit .250 and recorded a .406 kill percentage in her junior campaign. The Louisville, Kentucky, native posted a career-high 29 kills in a gritty five-set thriller against Pitt on November 18 – the most kills in a five-set ACC game this season. She became a member of Louisville’s 1,000-kill club this season, while adding 59 digs, 23 service aces, 15 blocks and 12 assists. DeBeer earned two ACC Offensive Player of the Week awards this season.
 
Scott led the ACC with 4.43 digs per set and totaled 288 digs in conference play. The three-time ACC Defensive Player of the Week had seven matches with 20 or more digs this season. The junior libero recorded her 1,000th dig this year and posted the second-most digs in an ACC match this season with 29. She added 73 assists, served 21 aces, and tallied a pair of kills to push Louisville to their conference-leading 33rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Fairbanks was unanimously voted Setter of the Year. Averaging 10.37 assists per game in ACC play, the Tustin, California, native totaled 560 assists to finish third in the league while helping Pitt to a .318 team hitting percentage. She added 102 digs, 32 kills, 26 blocks (four solo), 11 service aces to help guide the Panthers to their fifth ACC title in seven years. The four-time ACC Setter of the Week is the first Panther to earn Setter of the Year honors since 2016.
 
Babcock is the first Pitt player to earn Freshman of the Year. In league play, the right side tallied 239 kills, averaging 3.92 kills per set, while hitting .304. Babcock totaled 91 digs (1.49/set), 50 blocks (four solo) averaging .98 per set, 32 service aces and added 4.97 points per set. The Los Angeles, California, native picked up five ACC Freshman of the Week awards throughout this season including two back-to-back nods, as well as being named the AVCA/GameChanger Division I National Player of the Week on Nov. 14.
 
Poole and the Seminoles were predicted to finish tied for fourth in the annual ACC Preseason Poll and are now the first team since Louisville in 2017 to be predicted fourth or lower and win an ACC title. FSU finished the regular season on an eight-match win streak and held the best hitting percentage in the nation for multiple weeks this season. Poole earned his 900th career win with a 3-0 sweep of North Texas earlier this season and is only the eighth Division I head coach to reach this milestone and owns the sixth-most wins among active D-I coaches (918). 

Pitt had seven student-athletes on the All-ACC teams, followed by Louisville with six, while Florida State had five. Ten of the league’s 15 teams are represented across the All-ACC teams.
 
Five ACC volleyball teams earned spots in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship, announced Sunday night on the NCAA Selection Show on ESPN, highlighted by ACC Co-Champion Pitt earning a No. 1 seed.
 
Pitt will be joined by No. 2 seed Louisville, No. 5 seed Georgia Tech, No. 6 seed Florida State and Miami.
 
The first and second rounds will be played on the campuses of 16 competing institutions. The regionals will be at non-predetermined sites of four competing institutions, with the finals located in Tampa, Florida, at Amalie Arena. Here is the championship schedule:
  • First and second rounds: Thursday-Friday, Nov. 30-Dec. 1 OR Friday-Saturday, Dec. 1-2
  • Regionals: Thursday, Dec. 7 and Saturday, Dec. 9
  • Semifinals: Thursday, Dec. 14
  • National Championship: Sunday, Dec. 17 on ABC
Clemson will compete in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NVIC). The Tigers (17-13) will face Eastern Kentucky (21-8) on Thursday, November 30, at 4 p.m. ET at MTSU.
 
2023 ACC Volleyball Awards
Co-Player of the Year: Anna DeBeer, Louisville & Audrey Koenig, Florida State
Defensive Player of the Year: Elena Scott, Louisville
Setter of the Year: Rachel Fairbanks, Pitt
Freshman of the Year: Olivia Babcock, Pitt
Coach of the Year: Chris Poole, Florida State
 
All-ACC First Team
Gracie Johnson**, Duke, Gr., OH
Audrey Koenig^***, Florida State, Jr., OH
Khori Louis***, Florida State, Jr., MB
Bianca Bertolino***, Georgia Tech, Jr., OH
Tamara Otene, Georgia Tech, Sr., OH
Anna DeBeer, Louisville, Sr., OH
Charitie Luper, Louisville, Jr., OH
Elena Scott***, Louisville, Jr., L
Grace Lopez, Miami, Fr., Opp/
Savannah Vach*****, Miami, Gr., S
Mabrey Shaffmaster***, North Carolina, Jr., OH
Olivia Babcock^, Pitt, Fr., RS
Rachel Fairbanks**, Pitt, Jr., S
Torrey Stafford, Pitt, Fr., OH
 
All-ACC Second Team
Kerry Keefe**, Duke, So., OH
Jess Robinson, Duke, Gr., MB
Kiari Robey, Florida State, Jr., MB
Cara Cresse, Louisville, Jr., MB
Elle Glock, Louisville, RSo., S
Aiko Jones***, Louisville, Gr., Opp.
Ava Brizard**, NC State, So., OH
Amanda Rice, NC State, Jr., Opp.
Sydney Palazzolo, Notre Dame, Jr., OH
Flormarie Heredia Colon**, Miami, So., OH
Janice Leao, Miami, Gr., MB
Emmy Klika, Pitt, Jr., L/DS
Chiamaka Nwokolo**, Pitt, Gr., MB
Emma Monks, Pitt, Gr., MB
Valeria Vazquez Gomez**, Pitt, Gr., OH
*15 on second team due to a tie in voting
 
All-Freshman Team
Kyleene Filimaua, Florida State, L
Kenna Phelan, Florida State, S
Larissa Mendes, Georgia Tech, Opp.
Heloise Soares, Georgia Tech, S
Grace Lopez, Miami, OH
Sydney Nolan, North Carolina, MB
Olivia Babcock, Pitt, RS
Torrey Stafford, Pitt, OH
Ava Carney, Wake Forest, OH
 
^ denotes unanimous first-team selection
* denotes number of career All-ACC honors