IRVING, Texas – Student-athletes from UCF, Temple and Houston claimed major honors and awards during the 2020 American Athletic Conference volleyball season. The American unveiled its all-conference teams and individual award winners on Monday, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches.
UCF’s McKenna Melville became the second Knights player in program history to claim American Player of the Year accolades, while Temple’s Falanika Danielson earned the distinction of being the conference’s first freshman Libero of the Year. Houston’s Annie Cooke added the first Setter of the Year win by a freshman in league history and doubled as the conference Freshman of the Year. UCF’s Todd Dagenais and Temple’s Bakeer Ganesharatnam were named co-conference Coaches of the Year.
A total of 20 players from 10 member institutions brought home all-conference plaudits, as West Division champion Houston led the way with five total honorees (three on the first team). UCF’s Melville and Houston’s Abbie Jackson were both unanimous all-conference selections after appearing on the first team on all 10 possible ballots.
Melville joined DeLaina Sarden (2014) as UCF winners of American Player of the Year following a banner season for the league champion Knights. She currently leads The American with 5.18 points per set and 4.58 kills per set, hitting at a .278 clip, with her points and kills per set average ranked 13th in the NCAA as of April 4. Melville’s 712 total attacks also have set the pace in the conference. She repeated as the American Volleyball Championship Most Outstanding Player after averaging 5.50 points and 5.11 kills per set in wins over Tulane and Temple, as UCF claimed its third straight conference title.
Danielson led The American with 5.27 digs per set in her first season at Temple to help guide the Owls to the American Volleyball title match against UCF. She also notched 21 service aces and averaged 0.34 aces per set to rank eighth in the conference. Danielson logged 20 or more digs in nine of her 16 appearances on the season, registering a season-high 32 digs against Delaware on Feb. 26.
Cooke earned the first major player yearly award in The American for Houston as the top conference setter in league play, averaging 11.08 assists per set (conference-high 432 assists during American play). She registered six double-doubles during the season, including 53 assists and 20 digs in the regular season against Tulsa on March 6 and 49 helpers and 21 digs versus Temple in the semifinal round of the American Volleyball Championship on April 2. Cooke’s 64 assists across a five-set showdown at SMU on Feb. 12 were the most in a single match in the conference this season.
Dagenais was named American Coach of the Year for the third time (2014, 2018) after leading UCF to a third straight conference championship and berth into the NCAA tournament. The Knights fashioned a 16-1 record across both the regular season and conference tournament, including a perfect 8-0 mark in East Division play. UCF ranked fifth in the nation in the NCAA RPI as of April 4 and drew High Point in the first round of the NCAA Championship on April 14 (3:30 p.m. ET in Omaha, Neb.).
Ganesharatnam earned American Coach of the Year honors for the first time in his career after leading Temple to a runner-up showing at the American Volleyball Championship and putting together an 11-6 record (4-4 in the East Division). The Owls won four of their final five starts on the year to close as one of the hottest teams in The American, ranking fourth in the conference in team hitting percentage (.217) and kills per set (13.25). Three of Ganesharatnam’s players landed on all-conference squads, the most in a single season for Temple since 2017.
2020 American Volleyball Regular-Season Awards
Player of the Year
McKenna Melville, Jr., OH, UCF
Libero of the Year
Falanika Danielson, Fr., Temple
Setter of the Year
Annie Cooke, Fr., Houston
Freshman of the Year
Annie Cooke, Fr., S, Houston
Co-Coaches of the Year
Todd Dagenais, UCF
Bakeer Ganesharatnam, Temple
All-Conference First Team
McKenna Melville, Jr., OH, UCF*
Anne-Marie Watson, Sr., RS, UCF
Bri Wood, Sr., RS, East Carolina
Annie Cooke, Fr., S, Houston
Kortlyn Henderson, Jr., OH, Houston
Abbie Jackson, So., OH, Houston*
Marta Cvitkovic, Fr., OH, USF
Gem Grimshaw, Jr., OH, Temple
Falanika Danielson, Fr., L, Temple
Lexie Douglas, Sr., OH, Tulane
Kayla Dinkins, Jr., MH, Tulane
Sophia Rohling, So., RS, Wichita State
All-Conference Second Team
Nerissa Moravec, R-Sr., MB, UCF
Adria Oliver, Jr., MB, Cincinnati
Maria Mallon, Jr., OH, Cincinnati
Torie Frederick, Jr., L, Houston
Rachel Tullos, So., MB, Houston
Jadyn Bauss, So., OH, SMU
Miray Bolukbasi, Jr., OH, Temple
Maggie Hembree, Sr., MB, Tulsa
*denotes unanimous selection