Bechard, Soucie Lead Jayhawk Loaded All-Region Awards
Complete AVCA Awards List
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Riding the wave of the program’s first trip to the NCAA Sweet 16, Kansas volleyball added to it with an unprecedented showing on the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Midwest Region Team with four Jayhawks named to the First Team. Still rolling, Tayler Soucie was crowned the Midwest Region Freshman of the Year, while Ray Bechard was named the Midwest Region Coach of the Year for the second-straight season.
Bechard, who was the first KU coach to be bestowed the regional COY award in 2012, now finds himself collecting the honor for the second-consecutive season. The coaching veteran led his team to back-to-back 25-win seasons for the first time since 1980-81 as the Jayhawks are currently 25-7 after finishing the 2012 campaign with a 26-7 mark. His 2013 Jayhawks earned a national seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and are headed to Los Angeles on Wednesday for the program’s first trip to the Regional Round, more affectionately known as the “Sweet 16.”
“I’m excited that my assistant coaches, my volunteer coach and myself can all share in an award that represents all the hard work this coaching staff has done,” Bechard said.
Redshirt senior middle blocker Caroline Jarmoc, senior setter Erin McNorton and junior outside hitters Chelsea Albers and Sara McClinton each claimed All-Midwest Region First Team honors. Jarmoc is a three-time honoree, the first occurrence in program history, while the other three are accepting the honors for the first time. Prior to 2013, only two Jayhawks had earned all-region recognition (Jarmoc – 2011, 2012; Josi Lima – 2003). Tuesday afternoon, KU more than doubled its program total.
“I’m happy for the kids,” Bechard said. “It’s an extension of our weekend, I think. The team performed at a high level and we had a number of kids that stepped up. There’s some great momentum going within the program right now and when you advance to this level, you will have some opportunities for your team to get recognized.”
With the regional first team award, all four Jayhawks now move on to consideration for All-America honors. The rookie standout on a veteran team, Soucie is Kansas’ first Midwest Region Freshman of the Year.
KU’s all-time blocks leader at 554, Jarmoc is the only Jayhawk in history to record 100 or more blocks in all four of her seasons and ranks second in Big 12 history with 101 solo blocks. Kansas volleyball’s first All-American, Jarmoc holds KU’s single-season record for attack percentage (.386, 2012) and also leads the Jayhawk standard in career attack percentage (.327). At the conclusion of the regular season, Jarmoc ranked in the Big 12’s top-10 in attack percentage, kills per set, blocks per set and points per set.
Jarmoc cranked out 25 kills and committed just three errors in the first and second rounds last weekend. Her 41 career NCAA Tournament kills are now the third-most in KU postseason history. Additionally, Jarmoc brought her overall career total to 1,326, surpassing former players Sarah Rome (1,306) and Karina Garlington (1,309) for second all-time at Kansas.
McNorton, the Big 12 Setter of the Year, led KU in the opening rounds of NCAA Tournament action, putting up double-doubles (assists/digs) in both matches and averaged 13.12 assists for the weekend. While powering Kansas to the Sweet 16, she made some substantial progress on KU’s record book. McNorton outdid her previous season-high and now sits second all-time at Kansas in single-season assists (1,488) in 2013. The Dallas native also moved into fourth in the record books for single-season assists per set (12.20) and second in career assists per set (10.20). She broke the 3,000-career assists barrier over the weekend, as well, and heads to LA with 3,060.
Albers was the driving force behind the Kansas offense in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The All-Big 12 First Team member busted loose for a career-high 17 kills against Wichita State in the first round and outdid herself in round two with 18 in KU’s win against Creighton. The Papillion, Neb., native does it all as her 335 kills, 286 digs and 109 blocks makes her the first Jayhawk to post the impressive 300-kill, 200-dig, 100-block season since former standout Cyndee Kanabel did so in 1993 (367 kills, 283 digs, 100 blocks).
The other half of a two-member junior class, McClinton checked in among the top-10 in the conference in kills per set all season long and currently leads the team at 3.15. Her 23-kill, no-error performance at Baylor (10/5) is the fifth-best single-match performance in 2013.
Soucie, the rookie from Osawatomie, Kan., broke the Kansas record for most blocks in a debut season as she currently stands at 123 with more NCAA Tournament action still ahead of her. She has ranked in the top-five among Big 12 blockers all season long and leads the Jayhawks with 1.21 blocks per set and a .345 attack percentage. Soucie’s 12 block assists at then-No. 24 Creighton (9/10) is a KU single-match record.
2013 Kansas Accolades
Ray Bechard
-Big 12 Coach of the Year
-AVCA Midwest Region Coach of the Year
Caroline Jarmoc
-AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team
-All-Big 12 First Team
-Academic All-Big 12 First Team
-InnTowner Invitational, Tournament MVP
-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 9; Sept. 30)
-Kansas Volleyball Invitational, All-Tournament Team
-Preseason All-Big 12 Team
Chelsea Albers
-AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team
-All-Big 12 First Team
-Academic All-Big 12 First Team
-Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 21)
-Arizona Invitational, All-Tournament Team
Erin McNorton
– AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team
– Big 12 Setter of the Year
– Academic All-Big 12 First Team
– All-Big 12 First Team
– Preseason All-Big 12 Team
– 2013 Kansas Invitational MVP
– Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 23)
Sara McClinton
– AVCA All-Midwest Region First Team
– All-Big 12 First Team
– Academic All-Big 12 First Team
– Arizona Invitational All-Tournament Team
– Big 12 All-Preseason Team
– 2013 Kansas Invitational All-Tournament Team
– Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 23)
Tayler Soucie
– AVCA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year
– All-Big 12 Freshman Team
– Big 12 Rookie of the Week (Sept. 23; Nov. 4; Nov. 18)
– Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 7)
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