Cunningham, Wallace headline all-SLC awards
11/14/2018 10:21:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Full Release From Southland Conference
FRISCO – The Sam Houston State Bearkats walked away with two of the biggest postseason awards the Southland Conference has to hand out on Wednesday as Taylor Cunningham was named the league's player of the year and Madison Wallace was named the libero of the year, per a release from league officials.
Cunningham is just the third Bearkat in program history to claim the league's player of the year honor and the first since Deveny Wells-Gibson secured the award in 2012. Meanwhile, Wallace is the first Bearkat to ever garner the nod as the league's top libero, an award that has only been given out since 2004.
Along with the superlative honors, each was named to the all-SLC first team, while senior setter Jaclyn Ward and freshman right side Breanne Chausse were each named honorable mention.
“It's overwhelming, and I knew going into the year she would have a great chance at it,” Bearkat head coach Brenda Gray said. “She's had a terrific year, and the numbers speak for themselves. She is a six-rotation middle blocker and one of the best I've ever coached. I could not be prouder of a student-athlete.”
Their efforts helped the Kats secure the No. 3 seed in this week's Southland Conference Tournament and run their record to 21-7 for the year, tied for the program's most wins since 1996.
For Cunningham, the award comes as little surprise after a 2018 season that saw her name littered among the Southland Conference statistical leaders all year long. A Huntsville native, Cunningham moved into a six-rotation role in 2018 and flourished, posting 15 double-doubles while her 3.90 kills per set is the top mark among all players in the league.
She was named the league's offensive player of the week three times season and was also the defensive player of the week three more times, along with having a week where she became the first SLC player in recorded history to sweep both offensive and defensive player of the week honors.
In addition to leading the league in kills and total kills (394), Cunningham also ranked ninth in the league with a .301 attack percentage despite taking 965 attempts for the year. Her 1.12 blocks per set ranked sixth in the league and her 3.36 digs per set were just outside the top 10, headlining a Bearkat defense that ranks ninth in the nation with a .151 opponent's attack percentage.
Her numbers were even better in SLC play where she hit .304 and averaged a league-best 4.27 kills per set, along with 1.16 blocks and 3.45 digs per set. Twenty times she reached double-figure kills and double-figure digs.
Meanwhile, the Bearkats' shift of Wallace to libero early in the season was one of the most important moves of the season as the Kats went 17-3 with her in the off-color jersey after taking over the role on September 8.
“Tayler (Gray) suggested we make this move, and it could not have worked out better,” Gray said. “I'm so proud of Madison. She has done everything we have asked her ever since she joined the program. The only position she hasn't played since she has been here is setter. Once we put her there we told her to go out, get numbers and win libero of the year. She took to it so well and I'm so happy for her.”
A team leader who has primarily been an outside and right-side hitter for her first three seasons, Wallace made the most of her senior season, earning SLC defensive player of the week twice and ranking second for the season in the SLC with 4.90 digs per set while leading the league with 0.39 aces per set.
But she really garnered attention in SLC play with 5.31 digs per set, nearly a half dig per set better than any other player in league-only matches. Wallace reached double-figure digs in 24 of 28 matches on the season, including each of the last 20 matches of the year after becoming the team's primary libero. Her two biggest matches came in a pair of road wins at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Houston Baptist where she totaled 38 and 37 digs in consecutive matches, both marks which rank in the top six all-time at Sam Houston.
With Wallace leading the charge on the back row, the Kats have averaged 17.8 digs per set as a team, a mark that leads the SLC and ranks 14th in the nation. She will go into the SLC Tournament with 490 total digs for the year and needs just 10 more to become only the 10th Bearkat in program history with 500 digs in a single season.
The Kats added two more postseason accolades to their list with Chausse and Ward each earning honorable mention all-SLC. Chausse was one of just three freshmen to earn any all-league honors and did so after averaging 2.53 kills per set and hitting .208 for the year. She hit for double figures 13 times in kills, including 11 times in conference play and a season high of 16 scores against New Orleans on October 13.
Ward also picked up an honorable mention nod for the second straight year after averaging 8.55 assists per set for the season. She finished with seven double-doubles for the season and had a season-high of 57 assists against McNeese while going over 2,000 assists for her career earlier this season.
“To get four players on postseason teams in a league this deep speaks volumes for the program and the leadership of our three seniors, all who got landed honors,” Gray said. “Jackie has been so steady for us and we knew that Breanne had the potential to be an impact player for us, which she has been all year. They all have earned everything that they have received.”
Gray and the Bearkats will kick off the Southland Conference Tournament on Friday in Natchitoches, La., at 4 p.m. against No. 6 McNeese. With a win, they would advance to the tournament semifinals set for 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. The championship is set for 3:05 p.m. on Sunday afternoon at Prather Coliseum.
