Volleyball wins three Y Awards

PROVO, Utah—Women’s volleyball picked up three awards at BYU’s annual Y Awards Wednesday night, including Female Rookie of the Year, Leona Holbrook Spirit of Sport and Coach of the Year.

The Female Rookie of the Year was freshman standout Alexa Gray, who helped the team with 3.26 kills per set on a .308 clip. The outside hitter from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, also received West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, All-WCC First Team, WCC All-Freshman Team, Pacific Region Honorable Mention and All-America Honorable Mention accolades.

Senior setter Heather Hannemann, who hails from Alpine, Utah, was awarded the Leona Holbrook Spirit of Sport award. Hannemann directed the Cougar offense with 11.17 assists per set, good for 31^st in the NCAA. She collected WCC Honorable Mention, Pacific Region Honorable Mention and All-America Honorable Mention honors. She finished the season No. 8 in BYU history for career assists.

Head coach Shawn Olmstead won Coach of the Year after leading the team to a 28-4 season, the Cougars’ best record since 1998. BYU returned to the NCAA tournament after a four-year absence, making a run to the region semifinals (round of 16) and finishing with a No. 12 national ranking. Olmstead finished his second season at the helm of the women’s volleyball team in 2012.

The team had two other athletes named as finalists for Y Awards. Jennifer Hamson, the WCC Player of the Year and an All-America First Teamer, was one of four finalists for Female Athlete of the Year. Libero Tia Withers, who recorded a career-high 30 digs that tied for No. 9 in BYU history for digs in a match, was a finalist for Walk on of the Year.

For a complete list of Y Award recipients, read the general Y Awards release.