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Somerset, NJ -- Sacred Heart concluded a dominant regular season by earning three major Northeast Conference women’s volleyball honors on Friday evening. Most notably, senior right side hitter Sarah Krufka (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA/Tesoro) repeated as the NEC Women’s Volleyball Player of the Year. SHU senior Ana Gonzalez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico/Academia Maria Reina) was chosen NEC Libero of the Year, and after guiding the Pioneers to a 13-1 conference record and the NEC regular season title, Rob Machan was awarded NEC Coach of the Year honors for the third time in his career. 

Bryant senior Vika Katzen (Kfar Saba, Israel/Wingate Academy for Sports Excellence) repeated as NEC Setter of the Year and Central Connecticut right side hitter Morgan Woycik (Lapeer, MI/Lapeer) was tabbed NEC Rookie of the Year. 

Krufka became the third player in NEC history to win back-to-back NEC Player of the Year honors, joining RMU’s Katie Noble (2001 and 2002) and LIU Brooklyn’s Annika Foit (2012, 2013 and 2014). Krufka wrapped the regular season as the league leader in kills with 3.81 per set. She recorded double-digit kills in 25 matches and finished the season on an 11-match streak with 10+ kills for the NEC regular season champion Pioneers. The Rancho Santa Margarita, CA native and two-time Molten/NEC Player of the Week also hit .266 for the season, the fourth-best mark in the NEC. In conference play, Krufka averaged 3.86 kills per set, second in the league, and reached double-digit in kills in all but one NEC match. A four-time All-NEC honoree and two-time first team all-star, she enters the postseason having amassed a school record 1,517 career kills. A year ago she joined Courtney Kidd-Kadlubek (2010) as SHU players to win the NEC Player of the Year award.

The second Sacred Heart player to claim the NEC Libero of the Year, Gonzalez ranks seventh in the league with 3.77 digs per set. She upped that number to 4.36 digs per set in conference play, the fifth-best mark on the circuit. Gonzalez heads into the NEC Tournament having reached double-digit digs in 11 straight matches, including 31 against Fairleigh Dickinson on October 15, the second-most in a four-set match this season in the conference. Gonzalez, who hails from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico, also leads the NEC in services aces, with 0.43 per set, and averaged 0.56 aces per set versus league competitors. Jessica Colberg also won the NEC Libero of the Year award for SHU back in 2011.

Katzen became the fourth player to repeat as NEC Setter of the Year. In helping lead the Bulldogs to their second straight NEC Tournament appearance, she ranked fourth in the conference during the regular season with 7.28 assists per set and averaged 7.60 assists per set in league play. A two-time All-NEC first teamer, Katzen finished with 20+ assists in 23 matches this season, including a season-high 48 in a five-set win over Robert Morris on October 23. The native of Kfar Saba, Israel heads into the postseason having recorded 18 double-doubles in assists and digs.

Woycik became the fifth Blue Devil to earn NEC Rookie of the Year honors and was the lone freshman to earn first team All-NEC status. She began her career by earning MVP honors at the CCSU Invitational and enters the NEC Tournament averaging a team-high 2.51 kills per set. A three-time Molten/NEC Rookie of the Week award winner, Woycik averaged 2.85 kills per set in conference play, which led all rookies and ranked her eighth in the NEC. Woycik, who hails from Lapeer, MI, finished with 10+ kills in 12 matches, including seven times versus NEC opponents. Jamie Baumert (2006), Amanda Beyer (2007), Emily Cochran (2009) and Makenna Lommori (2012) are former CCSU players who have been named the NEC Rookie of the Year.

Machan led Sacred Heart to a third NEC regular title as the Pioneers posted their best league record in program history. As the top seed, SHU will host this weekend’s NEC Championship having won nine straight matches and 18 of their last 19 dating back to mid-September. The Pios have qualified for the conference tournament in eight of the last ten years.

All four major award winners earned spots on the All-NEC first team along with Sacred Heart senior outside hitter Makayla Dole (Cypress, CA/Western High School), Robert Morris senior outside hitter Arden Fisher (Oakmont, PA/Riverview) and LIU Brooklyn senior opposite Alex Larsen (Cary, IL/Cary-Grove). Dole, a four-time Molten/NEC Player of the Week, ranks second in the conference with 3.56 kills per set and led all NEC players in league competition with 3.96 kills per set. Fisher averaged a league-leading 5.34 digs per set during the regular season - a figure that ranks her ninth nationally - and posted 21 double-doubles. She also became the first player in Robert Morris history to eclipse the 1,000 career kills and 1,500 career digs mark. Larsen led LIU Brooklyn and ranked fifth in the NEC with 2.94 kills per set over the course of the regular season. She also ranks ninth in the league in service aces (0.28/set) for the Blackbirds, who enter the NEC Tournament as the second seed following a 10-4 regular season.

AWARD WINNER HIGHLIGHTS
Sacred Heart led all conference programs with three All-NEC first team award winners and four overall.

Robert Morris senior outside hitter Arden Fisher (Oakmont, PA/Riverview) ended her career as a four-time All-NEC honoree. She was named to the first team following three straight second team nods.

Central Connecticut right side hitter Morgan Woycik (Lapeer, MI/Lapeer) and LIU Brooklyn setter Amanda Hubbard (Hillsborough, CA/Saint Francis High School) were the only two freshman to earn All-NEC honors. Woycik was named to the first team and Hubbard the second team. Hubbard paces the conference with 9.41 assists per set.

St. Francis Brooklyn senior outside hitter Domenique Gerard (Newark, NJ/Science Park) made it back-to-back second team honors. Last weekend she became the first SFBK player to compile 1,000 career kills, finishing with 1,026 over her four years.
 
About The Northeast Conference
Now in its 36th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#22), Baltimore (#26), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, all @NECsports.