GYORI VOTED OVC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AS UT MARTIN DUO EARNS ALL-OVC ACCOLADES
11/14/2018 8:00:00 PM | Volleyball
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – History was made this evening as the University of Tennessee at Martin was well-represented in the 2018 Ohio Valley Conference volleyball awards, which were announced at the championship banquet on the eve of the league tournament.
The conference announced that Brooke Gyori became only the second Skyhawk to ever win the OVC Defensive Player of the Year award in addition to an All-OVC first team nod while Hannah Phillips earned a spot on the All-OVC second team. The voting was conducted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
This marks just the fifth time in school history (first time since 2011) that UT Martin has claimed multiple spots on the All-OVC first and second teams in the same year. Tonight's announcement also gives head coach Jaclynn Wilson her fifth All-OVC player in her four seasons at the helm of the Skyhawk program.
"We are all so ecstatic for Brooke and Hannah," Wilson said. "Brooke has been a true warrior since she first joined our program last season. She never has an off night – we can always count on her to bring a high level of production each and every match. Hannah has honed her craft and shaped herself into one of the league's top players through a lot of hard work. The improvement she has shown from her first two seasons has been incredible."
Gyori joins UT Martin Hall of Famer Kasey Elswick Copeland as the only players in school history to be named OVC Defensive Player of the Year and is only the sixth Skyhawk to ever nab All-OVC first team status. The libero out of Oregon, Ohio led the conference with 5.28 digs per set but improved that number to a whopping 5.70 digs per set against OVC opposition. Her 634 digs on the season are only nine scoops away from the second-highest single-season total in program history as she is the only two-year player to reach the 1,000 Career Dig Club at UT Martin.
The 5-4 senior compiled double-digit digs in all 29 matches this season, including 16 matches of 20-plus scoops and a trio of outings with 30 or more digs. Gyori's career-best mark of 34 digs came in OVC matchups at Morehead State (Oct. 10) and against SIUE (Nov. 3) – each coming in just four sets. She claimed OVC Defensive Player of the Week nods on both Oct. 1 and Nov. 5 of this season.
Phillips is only the fourth Skyhawk to claim All-OVC second team honors and the first since the 2002 campaign. Entering her junior season with 198 career kills, she elevated her game this fall – slamming down a team-best 290 kills (2.42 per set) on a .236 hitting percentage while playing in all 120 sets. She also chipped in a team-high 339 points, 132 digs, 60 blocks, 17 service aces and 12 assists from the opposite hitter position.
The 6-1 Orient, Ohio native elevated her play against league opponents, upping her kills average to 2.70 per set on a .272 attack percentage. Phillips amassed double-figures in the kill column on 14 different occasions, including a career-best 19 kills (against just two errors) in the five-set victory over Tennessee State on Oct. 19. She also was responsible for her first career double-double (13 kills, 11 digs) in the OVC road victory at Eastern Illinois on Sept. 29.
These two Skyhawks helped the program to their most overall wins (14) since the 2011 season and the program's first appearance in the OVC Championship tournament since 2012. UT Martin is seeded No. 7 in the event and takes on No. 2 Murray State in the tournament quarterfinals tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
The conference announced that Brooke Gyori became only the second Skyhawk to ever win the OVC Defensive Player of the Year award in addition to an All-OVC first team nod while Hannah Phillips earned a spot on the All-OVC second team. The voting was conducted by the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
This marks just the fifth time in school history (first time since 2011) that UT Martin has claimed multiple spots on the All-OVC first and second teams in the same year. Tonight's announcement also gives head coach Jaclynn Wilson her fifth All-OVC player in her four seasons at the helm of the Skyhawk program.
"We are all so ecstatic for Brooke and Hannah," Wilson said. "Brooke has been a true warrior since she first joined our program last season. She never has an off night – we can always count on her to bring a high level of production each and every match. Hannah has honed her craft and shaped herself into one of the league's top players through a lot of hard work. The improvement she has shown from her first two seasons has been incredible."
Gyori joins UT Martin Hall of Famer Kasey Elswick Copeland as the only players in school history to be named OVC Defensive Player of the Year and is only the sixth Skyhawk to ever nab All-OVC first team status. The libero out of Oregon, Ohio led the conference with 5.28 digs per set but improved that number to a whopping 5.70 digs per set against OVC opposition. Her 634 digs on the season are only nine scoops away from the second-highest single-season total in program history as she is the only two-year player to reach the 1,000 Career Dig Club at UT Martin.
The 5-4 senior compiled double-digit digs in all 29 matches this season, including 16 matches of 20-plus scoops and a trio of outings with 30 or more digs. Gyori's career-best mark of 34 digs came in OVC matchups at Morehead State (Oct. 10) and against SIUE (Nov. 3) – each coming in just four sets. She claimed OVC Defensive Player of the Week nods on both Oct. 1 and Nov. 5 of this season.
Phillips is only the fourth Skyhawk to claim All-OVC second team honors and the first since the 2002 campaign. Entering her junior season with 198 career kills, she elevated her game this fall – slamming down a team-best 290 kills (2.42 per set) on a .236 hitting percentage while playing in all 120 sets. She also chipped in a team-high 339 points, 132 digs, 60 blocks, 17 service aces and 12 assists from the opposite hitter position.
The 6-1 Orient, Ohio native elevated her play against league opponents, upping her kills average to 2.70 per set on a .272 attack percentage. Phillips amassed double-figures in the kill column on 14 different occasions, including a career-best 19 kills (against just two errors) in the five-set victory over Tennessee State on Oct. 19. She also was responsible for her first career double-double (13 kills, 11 digs) in the OVC road victory at Eastern Illinois on Sept. 29.
These two Skyhawks helped the program to their most overall wins (14) since the 2011 season and the program's first appearance in the OVC Championship tournament since 2012. UT Martin is seeded No. 7 in the event and takes on No. 2 Murray State in the tournament quarterfinals tomorrow at 1:30 p.m.
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