WCC Release | NCAA Tournament Bracket | Los Angeles Sub-Regional Tournament Central
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — As Santa Clara volleyball prepares for its 16th NCAA Tournament appearance this week, five Broncos received All-West Coast Conference honors, announced by the WCC Tuesday. Junior Nikki Hess and sophomore Kirsten Mead were named First Team All-WCC and Anna McCreadie was named to the All-Freshman team. Senior Danielle Rottman and junior Sabrina Clayton picked up Honorable Mention accolades.
Hess and Clayton have earned an all-conference award in three consecutive years. Mead — the 2014 WCC Freshman of the Year — and Rottman have been recognized by the WCC for the second straight season.
"It's always great when our players and program are recognized by our peers in the conference," head coach Jon Wallace said. "The WCC had an incredible year, so to get five girls on all-conference teams shows the strength of this program and its individuals."
Hess finished tied for fourth in the conference with 4.03 kills/set and posted 13 double-doubles in 2015. She makes a second appearance on the conference's First Team in as many seasons. The Scottsdale, Ariz. native received All-Freshman Team honors in 2013.
Mead's 11.14 assists/set were good for second in the conference and her 0.37 aces/set ranked third in the WCC. Mead also took home honorable mention recognition during her freshman campaign in 2014.
McCreadie hit .240 and finished third on the team in kills (227) and blocks (84). The Snoqualmie, Wash. native started all but one match for the Broncos in 2015.
Clayton topped the conference with 0.44 aces/set and Rottman's league-leading 4.87 dig/set mark is the second-best for a single season in program history. Both players have led the WCC in the respective categories for two seasons in a row. Clayton was named to the All-Freshman Team in 2013 and picked up an Honorable Mention last season; Rottman also received an Honorable Mention last year.
"All five would be quick to recognize teammates for getting them to the level they're at," Wallace said. "That's neat to see as a coach — when the girls push each other every day, it really lifts up our program."
BYU garnered three of the four major individual honors: Player of the Year (Alexa Gray), Defender of the Year (Amy Boswell) and Coach of the Year (Heather Olmstead). Pepperdine's Tarah Wylie was named Freshman of the Year.
Santa Clara opens NCAA Tournament play Friday night against Michigan at the John Wooden Center in Los Angeles.
