Volleyball All-Conference Teams Announced

Feiger Becomes First Individual from Tufts to Earn Player of the Year

HADLEY, Mass. – Senior setter Dena Feiger (Long Grove, Ill.) of Tufts University has been selected by the conference coaches as the 2009 NESCAC Player of the Year. The first player from Tufts to ever win the league’s top honor, Feiger helped the Jumbos reach the finals of the NESCAC Volleyball Championship this past weekend for the first time since 2005.

The first setter to be recognized as Player of the Year this decade, Feiger captains an offense that leads the league in kills (13.18 per set) with a conference-best 11.06 assists per set. It is the second year in a row that Feiger has paced the conference in assists after she recorded an average of 10.19 sets last fall. Feiger, who earned All-NESCAC First Team honors for the second consecutive year, has also recorded an average 2.56 digs and 0.34 blocks through 108 sets played. She was named the Most Valuable Player in two of the three tournaments the Jumbos participated in this season, the Tufts Invitational on Oct. 2-3 and the Hall of Fame Invitational on Oct. 23-24. With 3,489 career assists heading into this weekend’s NCAA Tournament action, Feiger looks to help her squad win the regional and advance to the national quarterfinals for the first time in program history.

Along with Feiger from Tufts on the All-Conference First Team was junior outside hitter Caitlin Updike (Manhattan Beach, Calif.). Updike has enjoyed her best season so far with the Jumbos, averaging 3.52 kills and 2.54 digs per set along with a hitting percentage of .244.

The Williams tandem of juniors Kate Anderson (Berlin, Mass.) and Nicole Ballon-Landa (La Jolla, Calif.) have once again proven to be a formidable combination up front for the Ephs and were recognized for the second-straight year on the First Team. Anderson, an outside hitter, leads the conference in kills with a 4.73 average while also ranking fourth in hitting percentage at .315. She has also contributed 1.37 digs and 0.46 blocks per set so far this season. Ballon-Landa, the NESCAC Rookie of the Year and a Second Team selection in 2007, has played in every set for the Ephs for the second consecutive year. The middle blocker is currently second among conference players in hitting percentage (.331) and 14th in kills per set (2.55) while recording 0.64 blocks per set. The duo helped their squad retain the NESCAC crown this past weekend at Tufts for the third year in a row, as Williams has won seven conference titles this decade.

Sophomore outside hitter Jane Handel (Evanston, Ill.) of Middlebury moved up from last year’s Second Team to this year’s First Team. The 2008 Rookie of the Year, Handel ranked fifth in the NESCAC in kills with a 3.60 per set average. In addition, she posted a .252 hitting percentage and 2.98 digs per set for a Panther squad that reached 20 wins for the first time since 2004. Middlebury held on to NESCAC Rookie of the Year honors as Handel’s first year teammate Julia Gibbs (Houston, Texas) was chosen. Gibbs was second in the conference in service aces per set (0.67) and was second to Handel among the Panthers in kills with a 2.33 average.

Rounding out the 2009 NESCAC All-Conference First Team were a pair of players representing conference members from the Constitution State: Connecticut College sophomore Amy Newman (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Wesleyan junior Ruby Hernandez (West Palm Beach, Fla.). Newman had a stellar sophomore season, as she ranked second only to Williams’ Anderson in kills per set with 4.17. She also collected 2.88 digs per set, recorded a .255 hitting percentage, and served up 0.59 aces per set (5th NESCAC). Newman’s play helped the Camels to an 8-2 mark in conference competition this season, their best record ever. Hernandez had a career year as she amassed 580 digs to lead the NESCAC with a per set average of 5.47. Just as impressive was the limited amount of errors the junior libero committed over the course of the year, only 42 over 106 sets played (0.39 per set). Hernandez was also selected as the Defensive Player of the Year.

Coach of the Year honors went to Tufts’ Cora Thompson for the second year in a row. In her seventh season as the head coach for her alma mater, Thompson guided the Jumbos to a first place finish in the NESCAC standings for the second-straight season and her squad is only one win away from matching the program record for wins set a season ago (29). Thompson also received NESCAC Coach of the Year in 2004.