West Babylon, N.Y. – The East Coast Conference announced the league's Volleyball All-Conference Teams at the ECC Volleyball Championship awards luncheon on Friday afternoon. Headlining the selections was a quartet of Molloy standouts. Kacey Affrunti (Levittown, N.Y.) earned the top honor as the league's Player of the Year. Sophia Smith (Georgetown, Texas) repeated as the Setter of the Year, while Jessica Fischetti (Seaford, N.Y.) and Chye Davis (Houston, Texas) claimed the Libero of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards, respectively.
Now a three-time All-Conference First Team selection, Affrunti was selected as the ECC's top player. The junior middle stuffed the stat sheet for the Lions. Heading into ECC Championship play, she ranked in the top-four in the ECC with 299 kills, 3.32 kills per set, a .300 hitting percentage, 56 block assists, and 66 total blocks. Affrunti's name is also atop the ECC leader board with 55 services aces, 0.61 service aces per set, 392 points, and 4.4 points per set. She ranks among the top servers in the country, as well. Her aces total is seventh in the nation, while her aces per set mark leads all of Division II.
After sharing the Setter of the Year honor a year ago, Smith wins the award outright this season. She leads the ECC with 950 assists and her 10.00 assists per set mark is 1.43 more than the league's runner-up. The eight-time ECC Setter of the Week has also contributed 75 kills, 251 digs, and 39 service aces on the year.
Fischetti is another Molloy honoree who leads the conference in statistical categories. Her totals of 481 digs and 5.06 digs per set top the ECC, earning her the Libero of the Year award. In addition, Fischetti has compiled 27 services aces this season.
Davis has been a force at the net in her debut season. A middle hitter, she led the ECC with 0.97 blocks per set and 61 block assists, while coming in second in the league with 77 total blocks. Davis has also sent home 92 kills with a .235 hitting percentage.
Molloy head coach Kevin DesLauriers makes it a near sweep of the league's major awards by sharing the ECC Coach of the Year honor. He guided the Lions to the ECC Regular Season Championship with the first perfect season in conference play since 2014. He has also led Molloy to a No. 1 ranking in the NCAA East Region Poll with a 23-4 overall record.
Bridgeport's Gary Mullin is the other half of the Coach of the Year honorees. Mullin claims the award for the first time in his six seasons in the Park City after leading the Purple Knights to a 23-6 record, a nine-win improvement over last season.
2019 ECC Volleyball All-Conference
First Team
Kacey Affunti, Jr., M, Molloy
Meghan Ballou, Sr., MB/RS, Daemen
Imani DeBose, Sr., OH, Mercy
Jessica Fischetti, Sr., DS, Molloy
Amanda Hennemann, Sr., OH, Bridgeport
Amanda Keller, So., MB, Bridgeport
Sophia Smith, Sr., S, Molloy
Second Team
Carly Banks, R-Sr., OH, Molloy
Courtney Bernard, R-Sr., RS/MB, Daemen
Emily Burford, Sr., RS, Bridgeport
Jenn Heritz, Jr., OH/RS, Daemen
Breanna Jones, So., DS, Bridgeport
Makayla Maroney, Sr., MB, Bridgeport
Hailey Wehr, Sr., RS, Molloy
Honorable Mention
Natalia Garcia, Jr., S, Mercy
Klein Johnson, Jr., DS, Bridgeport
Player of the Year: Kacey Affrunti, Jr., M, Molloy
Libero of the Year: Jessica Fischetti, Sr., Molloy
Setter of the Year: Sophia Smith, Sr., Molloy
Rookie of the Year: Chye Davis, Fr., MH, Molloy
Co-Coach of the Year: Kevin DesLauriers, Molloy
Co-Coach of the Year: Gary Mullin, Bridgeport
