🏐 Four Jayhawks Earn All-Big 12 Recognition
IRVING, Texas – Kansas was well-represented on the 2021 All-Big 12 Teams released Tuesday. Caroline Bien was named Big 12 Freshman of the Year and selected to the All-Big 12 First Team and All-Big 12 Rookie Team. She was joined by super-senior Jenny Mosser and sophomore Caroline Crawford who were All-Big 12 Second Team honorees. Fellow freshman Camryn Turner joined Bien on the All-Big 12 Rookie Team.
“It was a difficult year in that, whether you’re first team or second team or whatever you are, anytime in a year when the conference had seven postseason teams, there are going to be a lot of competitive players,” head coach Ray Bechard said. “Any award you get this year, I think has gained you a lot of respect from the opposing coaches.”
This is the second year in a row that Mosser and Crawford have been named to the all-conference team. In the 2020-21 season, Crawford was named to both the All-Big 12 First Team and Rookie Team and Mosser was on the All-Big 12 First Team.
Bien finished her first regular season leading Kansas with 295 kills and is second-highest on the team with 342 points and 256 digs. The freshman outside hitter was named Big 12 Rookie of the Week twice this season, for the weeks of Sept. 13 and Sept. 21. She was also named the 2021 Preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
During the regular season, Mosser led the team with 350 points and was close behind Bien with 293 kills, the second-highest on the team. The super-senior was also third on the team with 252 digs. In addition to earning a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team, Mosser was also named to the Academic All-Big 12 First Team. In the 2020-21, in addition to all-conference first team, Mosser was also an AVCA All-Midwest Region Selection.
For the second season in a row, Crawford has led the team during the regular season in blocks with 117. She was also third on the team with 227 kills. The middle-blocker was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 29 and named to the 2021 Academic All-Big 12 First Team.
Turner earned her first spot for the all-conference team as she joined Bien on the All-Big 12 Rookie Team. The setter had 503 assists, good for second-highest on the team and 189 digs. Turner was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week for the week of Nov. 23.
The All-Big 12 teams are voted on by the conference coaches and the coaches were not allowed to vote for his/her own players.
The Kansas Jayhawks will head to the 2021 NCAA Women’s Volleyball Tournament for the 10th time in program history. KU will head to Omaha, Nebraska, to take on the Oregon Ducks in the first round. That match will take place on Thursday, Dec. 2, at 4:30 p.m. CT in the D.J. Sokol Arena.
