Texas A&M setter Stephanie Aiple (pronounced EYE-plee) has been named the SEC Player of the Year, and the Aggies’ Laurie Corbelli has been named the SEC Coach of the Year, according to a vote of the Southeastern Conference head volleyball coaches and announced today by the league office.
In addition, Texas A&M middle blockers Jazzmin Babers and Shelby Sullivan join Aiple on the 18-member All-SEC team.
Aiple, a sophomore from Round Rock, Texas, is the first A&M player to be named SEC Player of the Year since the Aggies joined the league in 2012. She becomes the second player in A&M program history and the first as a sophomore to earn conference player of the year accolades, joining former Aggie setter Suzy Wente, who was named Southwest Conference Player of the Year as a senior in 1995.
A five-time SEC Setter of the Week and one-time SEC Player of the Week this season, Aiple is third in the SEC and 18th in the nation with 11.35 assists per set. She has directed the A&M offense to a .271 hitting efficiency, ranking second in the SEC and 16th in the nation. In SEC matches only, A&M’s offense is second in the league with a .276 hitting efficiency.
Corbelli collects her third coach of the year distinction in 23 years at the helm of the Aggies, having been named SWC Coach of the Year in 1994 and 1995. She is 485-227 at A&M and 585-333 in 30 years as a head coach. Corbelli’s squad is currently 14-2 in league play and in first place in the SEC heading into the final two matches of the regular season. The Aggies, 21-6 overall, are No. 19 in the AVCA Coaches Top 25 Poll and 10th in the latest NCAA RPI rankings.
Babers, a redshirt junior from Bowling Green, Ohio, is making her second consecutive appearance on the all-conference team after being named to the SEC All-Freshman team in 2013. Sullivan, a senior from Richardson, Texas, is making her A&M-leading third consecutive appearance on the All-SEC team.
Babers, who has started every match of her career (88), leads the SEC with a .443 hitting percentage in conference matches only. She also ranks second in the SEC with 1.46 blocks per set and is sixth in points (4.17) per set and ninth in kills (3.38) per set. For the full season, Babers is 12th in the nation with a .422 hitting percentage, and she is 19th in the country with 1.40 blocks per set. Babers was a three-time SEC Player of the Week and a four-time SEC Defensive Player of the Week this season and earlier this week was named the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week.
Sullivan is hitting .408 in conference matches only, ranking fourth in the league. She is eighth with 1.20 blocks per set in SEC matches. The Aggies’ co-captain earned both SEC defensive and offensive player of the week honors this season.
The Aggies return to the court later today to take on the Missouri Tigers, who trail A&M by one game and are second in the SEC standings. The Aggies would clinch Texas A&M’s first-ever conference championship with a win against Missouri and could claim at least share of the conference title with a loss to the Tigers and a win at Arkansas in the regular-season finale on Saturday.
First serve against the Tigers is at 6:30 p.m. at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, Mo., and the match will be available on SEC Network + via WatchESPN.com.
The following is the complete list of 2015 SEC volleyball awards:
Player of the Year: Stephanie Aiple, Texas A&M
Libero of the Year: Ashley Dusek, Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Alyssa Munlyn, Missouri
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Stephanie Campbell, Auburn
Coach of the Year: Laurie Corbelli, Texas A&M
All-SEC Team
Kat Hutson, Alabama
Krystal Rivers, Alabama
Pila Victoria, Arkansas
Rhamat Alhassan, Florida
Simone Antwi, Florida
Mackenzie Dagostino, Florida
Alex Holston, Florida
Živa Recek, Florida
Morgan Bergren, Kentucky
Kaz Brown, Kentucky
Ashley Dusek, Kentucky
Nakeyta Clair, Ole Miss
Carly Kan, Missouri
Kira Larson, Missouri
Alyssa Munlyn, Missouri
Stephanie Aiple, Texas A&M
Shelby Sullivan, Texas A&M
Jazzmin Babers, Texas A&M
All-Freshman Team
Okiana Valle, Arkansas
Breanna McIlroy, Auburn
Brooke Morgan, Kentucky
Kathryn Cather, Ole Miss
Alyssa Munlyn, Missouri
Aubrey Ezell, South Carolina
Erica Treiber, Tennessee
Story courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics