Raiders earn three major Horizon League awards; seven total honors

After an undefeated Horizon League spring schedule and its second straight regular season title, the Wright State volleyball team was heavily involved with the 2021 Horizon League Volleyball Awards, announced Friday afternoon.

Jenna Story was named the Defensive Player of the Year for the second season in a row, becoming the fourth player in League history to win back-to-back honors, while Lainey Stephenson earned Setter of the Year honors, the first Raider to earn that distinction. Additionally, third year head coach Allie Matters was named the HL's Co-Coach of the Year. Matters also earned HL Coach of the Year honors last season.

The Raiders also saw Celia Powers and Teddie Sauer join Stephenson and Story on the Horizon League First Team, with Wright State's four first team honorees the most in the League. The Raiders' seven league honors are the tied for the most in Wright State program history with last season's awards haul.

Story is one of the top defensive players in the country, sitting third in the nation with her 6.23 digs/set average, while her 324 total digs are inside the top 30 nationally, while her 1,572 career digs to date are already inside the Top 5 for the Wright State career digs leaders. Story is a First Team selection for the second consecutive season after she earned all-freshman honors in 2018. Story tallied 15 or more digs in 13 of the Raiders' 15 matches despite Wright State playing 10 three-set matches. She recorded back-to-back 37 dig nights at Oakland in February, with her 37 on February 8 coming in three sets, tying her for the 12th-most digs in a three-set match in NCAA Division I volleyball history. Story has recorded 30-plus digs now 13 times in her career.

Stephenson has passed out 479 assists to date this season, an average just shy of 10 assists per set, while running a Raider offense that his hitting .219 as a team and has put down 696 kills in 52 sets this spring. Her 185 digs leads all HL setters, while her 3.63 digs per set average is Top 10 in the HL and leads all setters. Stephenson is a First Team selection for the second straight season, and in addition to her 479 assists she has added 47 kills and has recorded nine double-doubles. She passed out a season-high 49 assists in five sets against Dayton on February 16, while she had 25 or more assists in 11 total matches. Stephenson finished one kill shy of a triple-double on March 8 against Cleveland State, tallying 52 assists, 16 digs and nine kills in the four set win.

Matters has led Wright State to 14 victories to date in the shortened spring season, while guiding the Raiders to a perfect 14-0 Horizon League record to capture their second straight regular season title and the top seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championship.

Powers earns her second straight First Team honor after recording 180 points in the regular season, the most on the Raider roster, with a 3.53 points per set average that is seventh in the Horizon League. She has 140 kills and a 2.75 kills per set average, adding 17 service aces to pace Wright State in that category as well. Powers has had six double-digit kill matches and has recorded six double-doubles this spring, including a career-high 21 kills in a five-set win over Cleveland State back on March 9. Sauer earns the second First Team nod of her career, joining her honors following the 2018 season. She has totaled 141 points on 105 kills this season, a 2.82 kills per set average. Defensively, she has added 50 blocks, which is fifth-most in the Horizon. Sauer finished with 29 total kills over a two-match sweep at Oakland in February and 17 kills and 13 blocks over seven sets against Robert Morris as well.

Wright State earned the top seed in the Horizon League Tournament for the second consecutive season, and will host Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday at p.m. inside McLin Gymnasium. The winner of Sunday's match will face the winner of second-seeded UIC and third-seeded Northern Kentucky, who also play Sunday, on April 3. All matches will be streamed on ESPN+.

Spring 2021 #HLVB Award Winners
Player of the Year: Katie Crowe, Purdue Fort Wayne
Offensive Player of the Year: Katie Crowe, Purdue Fort Wayne
Defensive Player of the Year: Jenna Story, Wright State
Setter of the Year: Lainey Stephenson, Wright State
Freshman of the Year: Becca Oldendorf, UIC
Co-Coaches of the Year: Justin Ingram, UIC and Allie Matters, Wright State

All-League First Team (alphabetical by school)
Hannah Greene, Cleveland State
Alex Zakutney, Green Bay
Ari Miller, Milwaukee
Anna Brinkmann, Northern Kentucky
Miranda Wucherer, Northern Kentucky
Katie Crowe, Purdue Fort Wayne
Maddy Gates, Purdue Fort Wayne
Paola Santiago, UIC
Celia Powers, Wright State
Teddie Sauer, Wright State
Lainey Stephenson, Wright State
Jenna Story, Wright State

All-League Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Jess Grabowski, Milwaukee
Ashton Terrill, Northern Kentucky
Jamie Walling, Oakland
Lindsay Wightman, Oakland
Sydney Boerst, Purdue Fort Wayne
Becca Oldendorf, UIC

All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)
Abby Miller, Cleveland State
Calli Gentry, Green Bay
Patti Cesarini, Oakland
Ramei Jackson, Purdue Fort Wayne
Martina Delucchi, UIC
Jaclyn Oblena, UIC
Becca Oldendorf, UIC

Raiders earn three major Horizon League awards; seven total honors

Players Mentioned

Celia Powers

Teddie Sauer

Lainey Stephenson

Jenna Story

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