SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Kansas City’s Melanie Brecka was selected as The Summit League Volleyball Player of the Year in a vote by the league’s head coaches after leading the Roos to a 13-3 mark in regular season play. Brecka becomes the first Kansas City player to take home the league’s top individual honor in a year that saw the Roos return to the league prior to the season after their first run as a league member from 1994-2013.

The junior averaged 4.09 kills, 2.42 digs and 4.55 points per set, helping the Roos post their second best regular-season winning percentage in program history. Brecka notched double-figure kill efforts in 15 of 16 matches and recorded a team-leading nine double-doubles, which is tied for the third-best total in the league. She tallied a career-high 25 kills against South Dakota State and currently ranks second in the league in kills per set.
 
The Roos' offense is guided by senior Alli Schomers, who claimed the Setter of the Year accolade. Schomers ranks second in the league in assists per set with 10.29 and fourth in total assists (669). Against South Dakota State, Schomer’s dished out a season-high 57 assists, which was one shy of her career-best. She also recorded seven double-doubles this season. Earlier this season, she earned her 3,000^th-career assist, making her only the second Roo in program history to reach the accomplishment.
 
Omaha senior Claire Mountjoy was named the Defensive Player of the Year to become only the second Maverick to earn the accolade (Kimberly Bailey; 2015). She leads the Mavericks’ defensive effort and sits third in the league in digs per set (4.93) and total digs (340). Mountjoy has notched 20-plus digs in eight matches this season including a season-high 32 against Oral Roberts.
 
North Dakota State’s Ali Hinze took home the Freshman of the Year award after a profound rookie campaign. The Bison newcomer led NDSU’s offensive efforts, hammering down a team-leading 237 kills this season and averaging 3.82 kills per set, both of which rank fourth in the league. Earlier this season, she registered 24 kills against Oral Roberts, tying for the most by a Bison in a match since 2015. Later in the season, against Omaha, she recorded the first 20-kills-20 digs match by an NDSU player since 2010. She finished the match against the Mavericks with 22 kills and 23 digs.
 
Denver head coach Tom Hogan secured his third Coach of the Year honor in four years after guiding the Pioneers to their sixth Summit League regular-season title. His squad clinched the regular-season crown after snapping Kansas City’s 11-match win streak and completing a series sweep on the last weekend of the regular season. Denver went 13-2 in league play, 8-0 on the road and are riding a four-match win streak entering the championship.

The All-League first team is made up of Brecka, Schomers, Hinze, Denver’s Lydia Bartalo (2.56 k/s, 0.68 sa/s), Tina Boe (2.20 k/s, .333 pct, 1.24 blk/s), Ellie Anderson (6.36 a/s, 0.38 sa/s), and Brianna Green (1.82 k/s, .344 pct, 1.10 blk/s), Omaha’s Sadie Limback (4.09 k/s, .412 pct, .52 blk/s) and Anna Blaschko (2.42 k/s, .299 pct, 0.62 blk/s), South Dakota’s Elizabeth Juhnke (4.19 k/s, .235 pct, 3.30 d/s), Madison Harms (1.31 blk/s, 1.68 k/s) and Sami Slaughter (2.64 k/s, 0.92 blk/s).
 
Honorable mention accolades went to Mountjoy and Omaha’s Sami Clarkson (10.83 a/s, 0.29 sa/s), Kansas City’s Alex Ratzlaff (2.43 k/s, 3.66 d/s) and Maddie Renn (4.43 d/s), USD’s Madison Jurgens (10.04 a/s, 2.89 d/s, 0.38 sa/a) and South Dakota State’s Crystal Burk (3.74 k/s, 3.30 d/s).
 
The Summit League All-Freshman team features Hinze and NDSU’s Taylor Quan (3.58 d/s), KC’s Odyssey Warren (2.35 k/s, 0.24 blk/s) and Ashia Dorsey (1.29 k/s, 0.69 blk/s), North Dakota’s Alexa Albinson (1.40 k/s, .205 pct, 0.65 blk/s) and Oral Roberts’ Jaxie Wakley (2.37 k/s, .209 pct, 0.88 blks/s) and Kaia Dunford (2.54 k/s, 2.66 d/s).
 
Four of the league’s nine teams will embark on Sioux Falls Friday and Saturday for The Summit League Volleyball Championships presented by U.S. Air Force Special Warfare. The action starts Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT when top-seeded Denver takes on No. 4 Omaha at the Sanford Pentagon. Both semifinals and the championship match will be televised by MidcoSN and streamed digitally on Midco Sports Plus and ESPN+.
 
Individual Awards
Player of the Year
Melanie Brecka, Kansas City
 
Defensive Player of the Year
Claire Mountjoy, Omaha
 
Setter of the Year
Alli Schomers, Kansas City
 
Freshman of the Year
Ali Hinze, North Dakota State
 
Coach of the Year
Tom Hogan, Denver
 
2020 All-Summit League Volleyball Team
First Team
Melanie Brecka, Kansas City, RS
Elizabeth Juhnke, South Dakota, OH
Sadie Limback, Omaha, RS
Lydia Bartalo, Denver, OH
Tina Boe, Denver, MB
Alli Schomers, Kansas City, S
Ali Hinze, North Dakota State, OH
Madison Harms, South Dakota, MB
Sami Slaughter, South Dakota, OH
Anna Blaschko, Omaha, MB
Ellie Anderson, Denver, S
Brianna Green, Denver, MB
 
Honorable Mention
Crystal Burk, South Dakota State, OH
Madison Jurgens, South Dakota, S
Sami Clarkson, Omaha, S
Claire Mountjoy, Omaha, DS/L
Alex Ratzlaff, Kansas City, OH/DS
Maddie Ren, Kansas City, DS/L
 
Freshman Team
Ali Hinze, North Dakota State, OH
Jaxie Wakley, Oral Roberts, MB/OH
Odyssey Warren, Kansas City, OH
Kaia Dunford, Oral Roberts, OH
Ashia Dorsey, Kansas City, MB
Taylor Quan, North Dakota State, DS/L
Alexa Albinson, North Dakota, MH