Horizon League Unveils 2022 #HLVB Awards
Rachel White
INDIANAPOLIS (November 17, 2022) – The Horizon League announced its 2022 #HLVB All-League awards on Thursday as selected by the League’s head coaches. Youngstown State’s Paula Gursching has been named the Horizon League Player and Offensive Player of the Year while Wright State collected three major awards as Jenna Story was chosen Defensive Player of the Year, Lainey Stephenson was voted Setter of Year and Travers Green was selected Coach of the Year. Cleveland State’s Laken Voss was named the Freshman of the Year.
Gursching is the first #HLVB Player or Offensive Player of the Year for Youngstown State. The sophomore led the League with 5.7 kills per set in League contests while hitting .297 as she helped YSU advance to the championship for the first time since 2014. Gursching ranks fourth nationally in kills per set and points per set and earns her second All-League First Team honor in her first two seasons.
Story earns her fourth Defensive Player of the Year honor, most in League history. The senior libero led #HLVB with 5.26 digs per League set, ranking 12
th nationally overall. Story collected her fourth All-League First Team honor, a feat only accomplished by three players in history prior to this season.
Stephenson won her second Setter of the Year award after first collecting the honor two seasons ago. Stephenson posted 11.35 assists per set in League play as the Raiders paced the League with a .257 team hitting percentage. The graduate student ranks 27
th in the country in overall assists per set.
Laken Voss picked up Freshman of the Year and All-League Second Team honors. The rookie ranked sixth in the League with 3.44 kills per League set for the Vikings.
Green is the 2022 Coach of the Year, picking up Coach of the Year honors in his first season at the helm for WSU. Green led the Raiders to a perfect 18-0 League record as they enter the championship on a 21-match winning streak.
Joining Gursching, Story, and Stephenson on the All-League First Team are student-athletes from five programs. Taylor Bransfield and Callie Martin join Story and Stephenson to represent the Raiders on the First Team while Northern Kentucky posted three individuals on the First Team in Reilly Briggs, Anna Burke and Abby Kanakry. Calli Gentry and Alexandra Zakutney represent Green Bay on the All-League First Team. Milwaukee’s Ari Miller and Oakland’s Patti Cesarini also earned First Team recognition. Miller is one of five four-time All-League First Team honorees in #HLVB history.
Bransfield paced the League with a .387 hitting percentage in League play along with 3.32 kills per set while Martin totaled 2.82 kills, 3.95 digs and 0.57 aces per set in #HLVB play. Briggs ranked in the top eight in hitting percentage (.325), blocks per set (1.02) and kills per set (3.4) in League play while Burke was third in the League with 4.62 digs per League set and Kanakry totaled 2.54 kills per set, 0.82 blocks per set and hit .230 in #HLVB contests.
Gentry ranked second in the League with 10.66 assists per set in League play and Zakutney ranked second among #HLVB players with 3.84 kills per set in League play while hitting .253. Miller ranked in the top four in League play with 3.64 kills per set, 1.16 blocks per set and a .363 hitting percentage. Cesarini led the Golden Grizzlies and ranked third in the League with 3.68 kills per set in #HLVB play.
Six student-athletes from five institutions earned All-League Second Team honors, including two from Cleveland State as Lydia Latimer (eighth in hitting percentage) joins Freshman of the Year Voss. Angie Gromos (sixth in hitting percentage and blocks per set) represents Green Bay while 2021 Freshman of the Year Madi Malone (2.84 kills per set) represents Milwaukee on the Second Team. NKU’s Anna Brinkmann (2.60 kills per set) and YSU’s Josi Borum (2.64 kills and 5.36 assists per set) complete the All-League Second Team.
CSU posted three student-athletes on the All-Freshman Team with Karly Klaer and Madison Olinger joining Voss. Milwaukee’s Natalie Schmitz, Purdue Fort Wayne’s Iris Riegel, Wright State’s Aaliyah Byers and YSU’s Abbie Householder also collected All-Freshman Team recognition.
The 2022 #HLVB championship begins on Friday, Nov. 18 as No. 3 seed Green Bay will face No. 6 seed Youngstown State in the first quarterfinal at 3 p.m. ET followed by No. 4 seed Cleveland State taking on No. 5 seed Milwaukee in the second quarterfinal at 6 p.m. ET.
Top-seeded Wright State will host the lowest-remaining seed from the quarterfinals on Saturday, Nov. 19 at 3 p.m. ET before No. 2 seed Northern Kentucky faces the highest-remaining seed from the quarterfinals at 6 p.m. ET for the final spot in the title match.
The two semifinal winners will battle for an NCAA Tournament bid in the championship match on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 2 p.m. ET. All matches of the championship will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Visit championship central for streaming links and more information on the championship.
2022 #HLVB Award Winners
Player of the Year: Paula Gursching, Youngstown State
Offensive Player of the Year: Paula Gursching, Youngstown State
Defensive Player of the Year: Jenna Story, Wright State
Setter of the Year: Lainey Stephenson, Wright State
Freshman of the Year: Laken Voss, Cleveland State
Coach of the Year: Travers Green, Wright State
All-League First Team (alphabetical by school)
Calli Gentry, Green Bay
Alexandra Zakutney, Green Bay
Ari Miller, Milwaukee
Reilly Briggs, Northern Kentucky
Anna Burke, Northern Kentucky
Abby Kanakry, Northern Kentucky
Patti Cesarini, Oakland
Taylor Bransfield, Wright State
Callie Martin, Wright State
Jenna Story, Wright State
Lainey Stephenson, Wright State
Paula Gursching, Youngstown State
All-League Second Team (alphabetical by school)
Lydia Latimer, Cleveland State
Laken Voss, Cleveland State
Angie Gromos, Green Bay
Madi Malone, Milwaukee
Anna Brinkmann, Northern Kentucky
Josi Borum, Youngstown State
All-Freshman Team (alphabetical by school)
Karly Klaer, Cleveland State
Madison Olinger, Cleveland State
Laken Voss, Cleveland State
Natalie Schmitz, Milwaukee
Iris Riegel, Purdue Fort Wayne
Aaliyah Byers, Wright State
Abbie Householder, Youngstown State