West Babylon, N.Y. – The East Coast Conference announced the league's Volleyball All-Conference Teams on Friday morning. Headling the awards were a pair of Daemen and Bridgeport standouts. Daemen’s Caitlyn Meyer (Clarence, N.Y.) was named the Player of the Year, while teammate Jasmine Brundage (East Aurora, N.Y.) earned the Libero of the Year honor. Bridgeport’s freshman duo of Jaden Drollinger (Queens Creek, Ariz.) and Paola Hernandez (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) were selected as the Setter and Rookie of the Year, respectively.
Meyer, a graduate student right side, excelled in her lone season at Daemen after transferring from James Madison University. The four-time ECC Player of the Week led the ECC with 3.52 kills per set and 4.1 points per set. She also ranked in the top-five in the conference with 310 overall kills and a .299 hitting percentage. Meyer also contributed on the defensive side of the net, ranking in the top-10 in the ECC with 17 solo blocks (5th), 39 block assists (9th), 56 total blocks (8th), and 0.64 blocks per set (9th).
Brundage is another Daemen standout whose name is at top of the ECC statistics leaderboard. A six-time ECC Defensive Player of the Week pick, Brundage led the conference with 399 digs and 4.24 digs per set during the regular season. She outpaced the league’s runner-up in digs per set by nearly 0.25.
Drollinger takes home Setter of the Year to continue the theme of the conference’s statistical leaders earning the ECC’s top honors. A four-time Setter of the Week and one-time Rookie of the Week honoree topped the ECC in both assists (1,037) and assists per set (10.27) during the regular season. Her assist total also ranks 24th in all of Division II. In addition, Drollinger was a force from the service line with a conference-leading 48 service aces.
Hernandez was named the Rookie of the Year after leading the conference with 331 kills during the regular season. She ranked in the top five in the ECC with 3.31 kills per set and 3.8 points per set, as well. The five-time Rookie of the Week honoree added 35 service aces, to rank sixth in the league. Hernandez also contributed 248 digs and 18 total blocks on the season.
Daemen head coach Stephanie Albano has been selected as the ECC Coach of the Year for the third time in her career. Under her guidance, the Wildcats posted a perfect run through ECC play to win the league’s regular season championship. Albano also has Daemen ranked No. 4 in the latest NCAA East Region rankings,
2021 ECC Volleyball All-Conference
First Team
Olivia Alessi, So., S, Daemen
Jasmine Brundage, So., L, Daemen
Graciela Cruz, Sr., OH/RS, Molloy
Yarianne Gonzalez, Jr., S, Mercy
Amanda Keller, Sr., MB, Bridgeport
Caitlyn Meyer, Gr., RS, Daemen
Larissa Schneid, Jr., OH, Mercy
Second Team
Tynesha Adams, Sr., RS, Mercy
Kassie Akouri Tejedor, Gr., S, Molloy
Loren Alberts, Jr., MB, Daemen
Emily Burford, Sr., RS, Bridgeport
Maggie Burns, Jr., OH, Daemen
Amanda Hennemann, Gr., DS, Bridgeport
Sam Logan, Sr., OH, Daemen
Honorable Mention
Kathleen Doherty, So., L, Molloy
Christina Franco, Fr., OH, Queens
Player of the Year: Caitlyn Meyer, Daemen
Setter of the Year: Jaden Drollinger, Bridgeport
Libero of the Year: Jasmine Brundage, Daemen
Rookie of the Year: Paola Hernandez, Bridgeport
Coach of the Year: Stephanie Albano, Daemen
