Somerset, NJ -- The Northeast Conference (NEC) announced its postseason volleyball awards on Friday, with student-athletes from regular season champion LIU Brooklyn standing front and center. LIU’s Annika Foit (Hausach, Germany/Robert-Gerwig-Gymnasium) has been named unanimously as the NEC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season by a vote of the conference’s coaches. Teammates Vera Djuric (Lazarevac, Serbia/Svetozar Markovic) and Adriana Vinas Joy (San Juan, Puerto Rico/Colegio Marista) were tabbed NEC Setter of the Year and Libero of the Year, respectively. Sacred Heart’s Sarah Krufka (Santa Margarita, CA/Tesoro High) earned NEC Rookie of the Year honors while LIU Brooklyn’s Kyle Robinson was tabbed NEC Coach of the Year by his peers.
Foit becomes the second athlete in NEC history to claim back-to-back Player of the Year honors. Foit led the NEC in kills per set (4.05) and point per set (4.60) in the regular season, helping LIU Brooklyn to the top seed in this weekend’s NEC Championship. The junior recorded three double-doubles in conference action and was named Molten/NEC Player of the Week on six different occasions. Foit is the sixth Blackbird to win the award.
Djuric takes home the NEC Setter of the Year award after receiving the award in 2011 and 2012, becoming the first NEC athlete to receive the nod three times. The LIU Brooklyn junior ranks second in the conference with 10.15 assists per set. Djuric quarterbacked an offense that hit .296 in league play this season, the most productive offense in the conference.
In winning NEC Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second year straight season, Vinas Joy ranks second in the NEC with 4.34 digs per set. She recorded the highest dig totals this season for three (22), four (28) and five (26) set matches.
Krufka is the second Pioneer to be named Rookie of the Year since the inaugural award was given in 1993. The outside hitter ranks seventh in the NEC with 2.90 kills per set, leading Sacred Heart to a conference best 13.84 kills per set against conference competition. Krufka, a two-time Molten/NEC Rookie of the Week, also paces the NEC Tournament-bound Pioneers with 54 total blocks on the season.
Robinson earns top billing among the conference’s coaches after guiding LIU Brooklyn to a 21-7 overall record and a perfect 14-0 mark in NEC play en-route to the programs seventh regular season title and third in a row. The Blackbirds are now 44-2 versus league rivals the last three season. Robinson’s recognition from the coaches marks his third straight NEC Coach of the Year award.
Fourteen NEC student-athletes were tabbed All-NEC by the conference’s coaches, with seven making the first team. Joining Foit, Djuric, and Vinas Joy as All-NEC selections were Sacred Heart junior outside hitter Dianis Mercado (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico/Colegion Marista), LIU Brooklyn sophomore outside hitter Tamara Ignic (Belgrade, Serbia/First Economic) and graduate student middle blocker Jessica Rice (Marlton, NJ/Cherokee), and Central Connecticut sophomore setter Makenna Lommori (Yerington, NV/Yerington).
Mercado, a two-time first team All-NEC award winner, spent most of the season ranking in the top-40 in Division I with .39 aces per set, a figure that ranks her second in the NEC. Mercado collected seven double-doubles in conference action and was a three-time Molten/NEC Player of the Week.
Ignic ranks third in the NEC with 3.38 kills per set, and is now an All-NEC first teamer for the second straight season. Rice leads the conference in hitting percentage (.337) and ranks second in blocks (1.25/set).
Lomorri returns to the first-team after dishing out 9.59 assists per game. The sophomore led the second place Blue Devils to an efficient season attack percentage of .232, the best in the conference.
Heading the second team is CCSU junior middle blocker Rachel Dunlap (Sonoroa, CA/Lee College). Dunlap ranks first in the NEC and sixth in the nation with 1.55 blocks per set. With 155 total blocks this season, she is one of only two players to surpass 100 blocks in 2013. Dunlap was a five-time Molten/NEC Defensive Player of the Week.
Joining Dunlap on the second team is teammate Heather Trueman (Chino Hills, CA/Chino), a sophomore outside hitter. Trueman paces the Blue Devils and ranks fourth on the circuit with 3.06 kills per set.
Krufka, the NEC Rookie of the Year, was joined by classmate Kiki Robinson (Bakersfield, CA/Liberty High) on the second team. Robinson paces the NEC with 10.48 assists per set, and is 46 shy of hitting 1000 assists in her freshman campaign.
LIU Brooklyn sophomore outside hitter Mirjna Rajic (Belgrade, Serbia/Sportska Gimnazija) averages 2.15 digs per set and ranks seventh in the NEC with 0.32 service aces per set.
Robert Morris freshman outside hitter Arden Fisher (Oakmont, PA/Riverview) is one of three freshmen to earn a spot on the second team. Fisher leads the Colonials with 2.5 kills per set and ranks second on the squad with 3.11 digs per set. Both figures rank in the NEC top-10.
Rounding out the second team is Saint Francis U junior libero Breanna Kochinsky (Nicktown, PA/Northern Cambria). Kochinsky led all NEC players with 4.40 digs per set over the course of the regular season and eclipsed the 1,000-dig plateau for his career.