IRVING, Texas – Standout student-athletes representing UCF, Houston and Cincinnati earned the major awards for the 2021 American Athletic Conference volleyball season. The American officially announced its all-conference teams and individual award winners, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches, on Tuesday.
UCF’s McKenna Melville repeated as the American Player of the Year, and first-year Houston libero Kate Georgiades became the first Cougar to be named American Libero of the Year. UCF’s Amber Olson added the first American Setter of the Year win by a Knight as a conference member and Cincinnati’s Abby Walker took home American Freshman of the Year. UCF’s Todd Dagenais claimed American Coach of the Year honors for the second straight season.
A total of 21 players from seven member institutions earned American all-conference awards, as conference champion UCF led the way with five total honorees (four on the first team). UCF’s Melville and Anne-Marie Watson, SMU’s Rachel Woulfe and Wichita State’s Brylee Kelly were unanimous all-conference selections after appearing on the first team on all 10 possible ballots.
Melville became just the second repeat American Player of the Year in the history of the award, joining three-time award winner Jordan Thompson of Cincinnati (2016, 2018-19). Melville led The American in conference matches with 5.67 points per set and 5.04 kills per set, hitting .288 in 20 league starts. Melville paced NCAA Division I volleyball with 578 kills and 657.5 points across all matches as of Nov. 27 for UCF, who claimed a fourth straight automatic NCAA Championship bid. Melville has been tabbed as an honorable mention AVCA All-American in each of the past three seasons (2018-20).
A transfer from TCU, Georgiades enjoyed a successful debut season at Houston and finished atop the conference charts in total digs (431) and digs per set (5.67) in league play. Georgiades checked in second nationally with 663 digs and ninth with 5.39 digs per frame among all players in NCAA DI volleyball as of Nov. 27. Georgiades logged three of the top four single-match dig totals in The American during the regular season, topped by a 41-dig effort against Tulsa on Sept. 24.
Olson brought home top setter plaudits after guiding the UCF offense to the second-best team hitting percentage (.310) during conference play in the history of The American (Cincinnati, .319, 2019). Olson finished atop the league assists rankings with 11.16 assists per set and checked in fourth with 0.41 service aces per set in conference matches. Olson also secured all-conference honors for the first time in her career as a Knight.
Walker joined Thompson (2015) as Cincinnati players recognized as The American’s top freshman after turning in an all-conference rookie campaign. Walker was in a mathematical tie for the conference lead with 34 services aces and 0.43 aces per set, was 10th with a .321 hitting percentage and 11th with 3.42 points per set in league play. Walker also contributed 2.60 kills per set for the Bearcats.
Dagenais was named American Coach of the Year for the fourth time (2014, 2018, 2020) after leading UCF to a fourth conference championship and automatic berth into the NCAA tournament in a row. The Knights posted a 26-6 overall record and 19-1 conference mark during the regular season, winning their final 15 matches in conference play. UCF has finished among the top five teams in The American in eight of nine seasons as a conference member with Dagenais at the helm.
2021 American Athletic Conference Women’s Volleyball Regular-Season Awards
Player of the Year
McKenna Melville, Sr., OH, UCF
Libero of the Year
Kate Georgiades, So., Houston
Setter of the Year
Amber Olson, Sr., UCF
Freshman of the Year
Abby Walker, Fr., MB/OPP, Cincinnati
Coach of the Year
Todd Dagenais, UCF
All-Conference First Team
Claudia Dillon, Jr., MB, UCF
McKenna Melville, Sr., OH, UCF*
Amber Olson, Sr., S, UCF
Anne-Marie Watson, 5th, RS, UCF*
Maria Mallon, Sr., OH, Cincinnati
Kate Georgiades, So., DS/L, Houston
Abbie Jackson, Jr., OH, Houston
Rachel Tullos, Jr., MB, Houston
Rachel Woulfe, Sr., OH, SMU*
Lexie Douglas, R-Sr., OH, Tulane
Kayley Cassaday, Jr., OH, Tulsa
Brylee Kelly, R-So., OH, Wichita State*
All-Conference Second Team
Nerissa Moravec, R-Sr., MB, UCF
Abby Walker, Fr., MB/OPP, Cincinnati
Annie Cooke, So., S, Houston
Alex Glover, Jr., MB, SMU
Hannah Jacobs, Sr., OH, SMU
Kaylyn Winkler, Sr., MB, SMU
Kayla Dinkins, Sr., MH, Tulane
Natalie Foster, Fr., MB/RS, Wichita State
Kayce Litzau, So., S Wichita State
*denotes unanimous selection