PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Cincinnati, Tulsa, SMU and Houston secured major honors and awards during the 2019 volleyball season in the American Athletic Conference. The American announced its volleyball award winners and all-conference teams as voted upon by the league’s 12 head coaches on Wednesday.
 
Cincinnati’s Jordan Thompson secured unanimous Player of the Year honors for the third time in her career, while Tulsa’s Taylor Horsfall earned Libero of the Year recognition for the second time. SMU’s Lily Heim was a first-time Setter of the Year winner, and Tulsa’s Dilara Gedikoglu claimed Freshman of the Year accolades. Head coach David Rehr from Houston earned Coach of the Year after guiding the Cougars to second place in the West Division of The American.
 
A total of 20 players representing nine member institutions earned all-conference accolades, with East Division champion Cincinnati leading the way with four total honorees. UCF, who finished second in the East Division behind the Bearcats, were represented by a league-high three players on the top all-conference squad. Two players, Cincinnati’s Thompson and UCF’s McKenna Melville, were unanimous first-team selections.

It was another banner year for Thompson, The American’s all-time leader in career kills and the only multi-time player of the year in conference history (2016, 2018, 2019). The Edina, Minnesota, native led the conference with 364 kills, 6.74 kills per set and 7.37 points per set over 16 league starts in 2019, guiding Cincinnati to a 15-1 record to finish atop the East Division. Thompson’s 50-kill effort and .530 hitting percentage in a comeback win against UConn on Nov. 3 earned her AVCA National Player of the Week accolades for the third time in her standout career. A seven-time honoree as The American Offensive Player of the Week this season, Thompson enters the conference tournament as the NCAA Division I leader in total kills (651), kills per set (6.32), points (716) and points per set (6.95).
 
Horsfall locked down top libero honors to go along with a prior trophy earned in 2017, becoming just the second multi-time winner of the award in conference history (Morgan Heise, SMU, 2014-16). Horsfall was recognized on six separate occasions as The American Defensive Player of the Week in 2019 and led all conference players with 6.87 digs per set across 16 league starts. She notched six 30-dig efforts in conference matches over the course of the year, capped by 38 digs in her 2019 American debut against Wichita State on Sept. 27. On the eve of the American Athletic Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship this weekend, Horsfall ranks third in the NCAA with 679 total digs and fourth with 6.12 digs per set.
 
Heim became the second SMU player to earn top setter plaudits from The American, joining Avery Acker in 2013 and 2015. She logged a conference-high 753 assists over 16 starts in league play this season, averaging 11.77 assists per set against conference foes and posting eight league matches with 50 or more assists for the Mustangs. Heim appeared on the weekly conference honor roll on three separate occasions and finished second in the conference with 16 double-doubles over the course of the regular season. Heim enters the conference championship tournament rated sixth in NCAA Division I with an 11.72 assists per set average in 26 total appearances this season.
 
Gedikoglu became the first Tulsa player to claim top freshman accolades after enjoying a breakout rookie season for the Golden Hurricane. She ranked second in The American with 267 kills and third in the conference with 4.60 kills per set in league play, averaging 4.96 points per set in league matches for Tulsa. Gedikoglu surpassed the 20-kill plateau on four different occasions in conference matches and tied for fourth in the conference with 14 overall double-doubles during the regular season. Her 26 kills against Tulane on Oct. 11 and Memphis on Nov. 8 established career highs.
 
Rehr was the first rookie head volleyball coach in the history of The American to be named the conference’s top coach, inheriting a Houston team that posted a 4-14 conference record in 2018 and leading this season’s edition of the Cougars to within one match of the West Division crown at 10-6. Houston boasted three all-conference team selections, its most members in a single season since joining The American in 2013, along with an 8-5 record in five-set matches during the regular season. In fact, the Cougars won seven of those matches that went the distance in comeback fashion.
 
Cincinnati, SMU, UCF, Houston, Tulane and Tulsa will collide in the inaugural American Athletic Conference Women’s Volleyball Championship on Nov. 22-24 at The Venue in Orlando, Florida.
 
American Athletic Conference
2019 Women’s Volleyball Awards
 
Player of the Year
Jordan Thompson, R-Sr., RS/OH, Cincinnati*
 
Libero of the Year
Taylor Horsfall, Sr., Tulsa
 
Setter of the Year
Lily Heim, So., SMU
 
Freshman of the Year
Dilara Gedikoglu, OH, Tulsa
 
Coach of the Year
David Rehr, Houston
 
All-Conference First Team
Kristina Fisher, Sr., OH, UCF
McKenna Melville, So., OH, UCF*
Anne-Marie Watson, Jr., RS, UCF
Maria Mallon, So., OH, Cincinnati
Jordan Thompson, R-Sr., RS/OH, Cincinnati*
Hannah Flowers, Jr., RS, Memphis
Lily Heim, So., S, SMU
Rachel Woulfe, So., OH, SMU
Kayla Dinkins, So., MH, Tulane
Lexie Douglas, Jr., OH, Tulane
Dilara Gedikoglu, Fr., OH, Tulsa
Taylor Horsfall, Sr., DS/L, Tulsa
 
All-Conference Second Team
Armania Heckenmueller, So., S, Cincinnati
Adria Oliver, So., MB, Cincinnati
Bri Wood, Jr., RS, East Carolina
Megan Duncan, Sr., OH/RS, Houston
Katie Karbo, Sr., DS/L, Houston
Rachel Tullos, Fr., MB, Houston
Hannah Jacobs, So., OH, SMU
Peyton Boyd, So., RS, Temple
 
[*] – denotes unanimous selection