Women's Volleyball

Ivy League Announces Volleyball All-Ivy Teams, Major Awards

PRINCETON, N.J. -- Following a campaign that saw Princeton and Yale share the Ivy League title for the second time over the past three seasons, the Ivy League announced the All-Ivy teams and major award winners Thursday. 
 
Columbia, Princeton and Brown split the major awards after a vote of the League’s head coaches. 

Columbia senior middle blocker Chichi Ikwuazom (New York, N.Y.) was selected as the Player of the Year, Princeton sophomore libero Cameron Dames (Atlanta, Ga.) was dubbed the Defensive Player of the Year and Brown freshman outside hitter Sophia Miller (Dallas, Texas) was unanimously named the Rookie of the Year. Princeton head coach Sabrina King was named the Ivy League Coach of the Year for the third time over the past five seasons. 
 
Ikwuazom ranks among the top five in NCAA Division I with 5.32 kills per set (3rd), 6.02 points per set (3rd) and a .438 hitting percentage (5th). She has accumulated a career-high 495 kills and 559.5 points to go along with 106 blocks this season. The New York, N.Y., native is Columbia’s first-ever Ivy League Player of the Year since the award was instituted in 1987. She ends a run of eight-straight Player of the Years that hailed from either Princeton or Yale. 

Dames paced the Tigers and the Ivy League with 4.35 digs per set, accumulating 361 digs on the season. The sophomore also tallied 71 assists and 18 service aces. The Atlanta, Ga., native is Princeton’s first-ever Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year since the award was instituted in 2012. 
 
Miller paced the Bears with 3.42 kills per set and ranked second on the team with 3.75 points per set. She hit .227, while accumulating 232.5 points, 212 kills, 182 digs, 30 assists, 14 service aces and 13 blocks. The Dallas, Texas, product is Brown’s fourth Ivy League Rookie of the Year and first since Corre Myer in 1998. She joins a list that includes Myer, Tomo Nakanishi (1996) and Aimee Bower (1988). 

King, in her ninth year at the helm of her alma mater, claims her third Ivy League Coach of the Year nod since the award was instituted in 2014. The Tigers, who have four Ivy League titles over the past five seasons, will face Yale in an Ivy League Volleyball Playoff Friday to determine the League’s automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. 
 
The top three teams in the Ivy League standings—Princeton, Yale and Cornell—dominated the All-Ivy teams. Princeton had a League-high three First Team selections and a League-best six All-Ivy honorees overall. Yale was the only other program with multiple First Team picks (2 First Team, 1 Second Team), while Cornell posted a League-high three Second Team selections (1 First Team, 3 Second Team). 
 
Princeton’s First Team trio included senior right-side hitter Maggie O’Connell (Katy, Texas), junior middle blocker Clare Lenihan (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) and senior setter Jessie Harris (Newport Beach, Calif.). Senior outside hitters Natasha Skov (Oakland, Calif.) and Devon Peterkin (San Diego, Calif.) joined Dames as Second Team honorees. 
 
Sophomore middle blocker Samantha Bray (Austin, Texas) and senior setter Frances Arnautou (San Francisco, Calif.) made up Yale’s First Team pairing, while senior middle blocker Izzy Simqu (Westlake Village, Calif.) was named to the Second Team. 
 
Cornell’s All-Ivy quartet were split among the First—sophomore right-side hitter Jillienne Bennett (Chicago, Ill.)—and Second—sophomore outside hitter Madison Baptiste (Austin, Texas), senior middle blocker Jada Stackhouse (Milwaukee, Wis.) and senior libero Lily Barber (Corte Madera, Calif.)—Teams. 

Yale’s Arnautou and Columbia’s Ikwuazom were the two unanimous First Team selections. 
 
Brown’s Miller rounded out the First Team All-Ivy contingent, while Harvard was represented by All-Ivy Honorable Mention junior outside hitter Mindie Mabry (Fort Myers, Fla.).  
 
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Chichi Ikwuazom, Columbia (Sr., MB – New York, N.Y.) 
 
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Cameron Dames, Princeton (So., DS/L – Atlanta, Ga.) 
 
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
* Sophia Miller, Brown (Fr., OH – Dallas, Texas) 
 
COACH OF THE YEAR
Sabrina King, Princeton
 
FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY^
Sophia Miller, Brown (Fr., OH – Dallas, Texas)
Jillienne Bennett, Cornell (So., RS – Chicago, Ill.) 
Maggie O’Connell, Princeton (Sr., RS – Katy, Texas) 
* Chichi Ikwuazom, Columbia (Sr., MB – New York, N.Y.) 
Clare Lenihan, Princeton (Jr., MB – Manhattan Beach, Calif.) 
Samantha Bray, Yale (So., MB – Austin, Texas) 
Jessie Harris, Princeton (Sr., S – Newport Beach, Calif.) 
* Frances Arnautou, Yale (Sr., S – San Francisco, Calif.) 
 
SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY
Madison Baptiste, Cornell (So., OH – Austin, Texas) 
Natasha Skov, Princeton (Sr., OH – Oakland, Calif.) 
Devon Peterkin, Princeton (Sr., OH – San Diego, Calif.) 
Jada Stackhouse, Cornell (Sr., MB – Milwaukee, Wis.) 
Izzy Simqu, Yale (Sr., MB – Westlake Village, Calif.) 
Lily Barber, Cornell (Sr., L – Corte Madera, Calif.) 
Cameron Dames, Princeton (So., DS/L – Atlanta, Ga.) 
 
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Eliza Grover, Brown (Jr., RS – Menlo Park, Calif.) 
Mindie Mabry, Harvard (Jr., OH – Fort Myers, Fla.) 
Rebekah Nemeth, Yale (Sr., RS – Kingwood, Texas) 
Kathryn Attar, Yale (Jr., OH – Tampa, Fla.) 
Audrey Cheng, Columbia (Jr., S – Superior, Colo.) 
Kaitlyn Wong, Brown (Fr., DS/L – Los Altos, Calif.) 
 
* Unanimous Selection
^ First Team Expanded Due To Tie In Voting