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Big Ten Conference Announces 2023 Volleyball Postseason Honors
2023 Big Ten Volleyball All-Conference Teams & Individual Honors
ROSEMONT, Ill. (Nov. 30, 2023) – The Big Ten Conference announced the 2023 Volleyball All-Big Ten Team and individual honorees Thursday, as chosen by a vote of the conference’s 14 head coaches. Wisconsin’s senior outside hitter Sarah Franklin was selected as Player of the Year, while Nebraska claimed the remainder of the individual awards with junior libero Lexi Rodriguez named Defensive Player of the Year, Bergen Reilly earned Setter of the Year, Harper Murray was chosen as Freshman of the Year and John Cook earned Coach of the Year honors (the lone award that featured separate voting by the conference coaches and a select media panel, both of whom chose Cook).
Franklin is the sixth Badger to be chosen as Big Ten Player of the Year and first since Dana Rettke in 2019. A native of Lake Worth, Fla., Franklin was named the AVCA National Player of the Week on Monday. Franklin averaged 5.0 kills/set with a .329 hitting percentage, 2.5 digs/set and 5.25 points/set as part of a 2-0 week highlighted by a 3-0 win over No. 1 Nebraska and a sweep of Iowa. The Badgers handed the Huskers their first loss of the season, powered by Franklin’s 16 kills and 12 digs for her seventh double-double of the season. The senior is fifth in the conference with 413 kills this season, averaging 4.17/set. Franklin was also a unanimous selection on the All-Big Ten First Team.
Rodriguez earns her second Defensive Player of the Year honor after being chosen for the award following her freshman season in 2021. Rodriguez finished the regular season with 367 digs, averaging 3.60 digs/set, a mark that ranks ninth in the Big Ten. The junior libero is the second Husker to earn the honor after Justine Wong-Orantes was chosen back-to-back seasons in 2015-16.
Reilly is the first freshman to be chosen as Big Ten Setter of the Year and second Husker to earn the honor since Kelly Hunter in 2017. Reilly was selected as Setter of the Week four times this season and leads the conference and is 13th nationally with 10.74 assists/set, totaling 1,095 on the year.
Murray is the second Husker to be chosen as Freshman of the Year after finishing the regular season averaging 3.29 kills/set and 336 kills overall. Murray was named the conference’s Freshman of the Week three times throughout the season.
Cook earned dual selections by both his conference counterparts and the media voters, earning his fourth coaches vote honor overall and third while at Nebraska. Cook led the Huskers to their first Big Ten title since 2017, finishing the regular season 19-1 in conference play and 28-1 overall. Nebraska was ranked in the AVCA top five throughout the entire season and was No. 1 overall for six-straight weeks dating back to Oct. 23. The Huskers are the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament that opens this week, positioning Nebraska to play at home all the way through to the national semifinals.
Reilly and Murray were one of four unanimous selections on the All-Freshman Team, along with Indiana’s Ramsey Gary and Purdue’s Chloe Chicoine.
The Big Ten also recognized 14 Sportsmanship Award honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The complete list of honorees can be found in the attached PDF file.Big Ten Conference (bigten.org) is an association of world-class universities whose member institutions share a common mission of research, graduate, professional and undergraduate teaching, and public service. Founded in 1896, Big Ten Conference has sustained a comprehensive set of shared practices and policies that enforce the priority of academics in the lives of students competing in intercollegiate athletics and emphasize the values of integrity, fairness, and competitiveness. The broad-based programs of the 14 Big Ten Conference institutions will provide over $200 million in direct financial support to more than 9,800 students for more than 11,000 participation opportunities on 350 teams in 42 different sports. Big Ten Conference sponsors 28 official conference sports, 14 for men and 14 for women, including the addition of men’s ice hockey and men’s and women’s lacrosse since 2013.