Oklahoma City – After leading Texas Wesleyan to the No. 2 seed in the Sooner Athletic Conference, Andrea Malek has been named the SAC Player of the Year as voted on by the league's coaches. Malek was also named the conference Defender of the Year. Texas Wesleyan head coach Jessica Ransom was voted the league Coach of the Year after guiding the Rams to the second seed in the post-season tournament.
Ruby O’Brien joined her teammate from Texas Wesleyan in garnering the conference Setter of the Year. Wayland Baptist had a pair of players earn post-season awards as Fade Ogunbade was named the Attacker of the Year with Selma Sutaj garnering the Newcomer of the Year award. Mid-America Christian’s Sawyer Franz rounds out the post-season awards after being named the conference Freshman of the Year with her assistant coach Rachael Self earning Assistant Coach of the Year.
Malek led the conference with 648 digs for an average of 6.11 digs per set while adding 41 service aces on the year for an average of 0.38 per serve.
O’Brien was an instrumental piece of the Rams’ offense by handing out 623 assists for an average of 5.88 assists per set.
Ogunbade finished in the top 10 in a pair of categories as she was ninth in the league with a hitting percentage of .243 and was fifth in kills with 233 for an average of 3.07 kills per set. Ogunbade was also second in the league in blocks with 80 and an average of 1.05 blocks per set.
Sutaj was also a key player for the Pioneers as she was sixth in the conference in kills with 214 for an average of 3.01 kills per game and was sixth in points with 247.5 for an average of 3.49 per set.
Franz led the conference in Kills with 430 for an average of 3.68 per set and ranked fourth in points with 451 for an average of 3.85 per set.
Ransom led Texas Wesleyan to an overall record of 24-5 and a league mark of 18-2 as she guided the Rams to the second seed in the post-season tournament.
Self aided Evangels head coach Holly McKamie this season as they led MACU to an overall record of 20-10 and a conference record of 15-5 as the Evangels are the No. 3 seed in the tournament as they head to the conference semifinals.
Below is a complete list of award winners and the All-Conference teams.
Awards:
Player of the Year – Andrea Malek – TXWES
Setter of the Year – Ruby O’Brien – TXWES
Attacker of the Year – Fade Ogunbade – WBU
Defender of the Year - Andrea Malek – TXWES
Newcomer of the Year – Selma Sutaj – WBU
Freshman of the Year – Sawyer Franz - MACU
Coach of the Year - Jessica Ransom - Texas Wesleyan
Assistant Coach of the Year - Rachael Self - MACU
All-Sooner Athletic Conference First Team
Andrea Malek – Libero- TXWES
Julie Milligan- Libero- JBU
Ruby O’Brien- Setter- TXWES
Riley Burcham- Setter- SAGU
Fade Ogunbade- Middle- WBU
Sawyer Franz- Outside- MACU
Ruby Kelly- Middle- OCU
Emma Tompkins- Middle- SAGU
Rylee Steward- Middle- OCU
Savanna Riney- Outside- JBU
Lena Stockhammer- Outside- MACU
Selma Sutaj- Outside- WBU
All-Sooner Athletic Conference Second Team
Marlee Hunter- Libero- MACU
Erin Mullins- Middle- JBU
Natalie Adams- Setter- OCU
Yaiza Larrauri- Libero- USAO
Casady McKinney- Setter- MACU
Tessa Glick- Libero- SAGU
Sydney Charlton- Opposite- TXWES
Karena Tipton- Middle- SAGU
Lilly Hanna- Middle- SAGU
Taylor Golmen- Middle- JBU
Kaitlyn Dunlap- Libero- OCU
Alanah Best- Middle- OPSU
All-Sooner Athletic Conference Honorable Mention
Cassidy Hargesheimer- Setter- SAGU
Kendal King- Outside- TXWES
Makenna Gantt- Setter/Opposite- TXWES
Milla Souza- Setter- MACU
Morgan Fincham- Setter- JBU
Carly Unruh- Middle- TXWES
Brenna Daniel- Libero- WBU
Amanda Dotter- Outside- CCC
Mia Sanchez- Setter- OPSU
Victoria Southerland- Outside- USAO
Tessa Ortiz- Middle- SCU
Leah McCall- Libero- Langston