Before the season, the MIAA coaches didn’t show Emporia State much love, ranking the Hornets fifth in the preseason poll.
On Wednesday, the coaches finally gave the MIAA champion Hornets their due. Bing Xu was named MIAA coach of the year, Ting Liu player of the year and six Hornets appeared on the All-MIAA team.
Long-time Central Missouri coach Peggy Martin even made sure at least one Hornet was recognized. During the coaches’ conference call this week, Martin suggested to Xu that he nominate Liu for player of the year, which he had yet to do.
“A lot of people want a hitter,” he said, “but in my mind a setter is kind of the quarterback. She runs the show, puts all the team together.”
Liu, a sophomore, has helped the Hornets put together a 32-3 record this season. Liu is third in the nation in assists with 1,424, averaging 12.17 per set, and she is already second in career assists at Emporia State. Her numbers and impact for the Hornets were too great for the coaches to ignore a position that is usually overlooked.
“That’s what they say about setters, no glory,” Amy Byfield said. “But Ting obviously stands out, physically and what she does on the court.”
Liu was joined on the first team by junior outside hitter Arica Shepard. Shepard also made the first team last year. She leads the MIAA in kills and is 17th in the nation with 438 for the year. She currently ranks third all-time in career kills at Emporia State.
Senior outside hitter Megan Koster made the second team. Koster has 347 kills this season. Fellow senior Hannah Carter, a middle hitter, made the third team. She leads the Hornets in blocks 132 and ranks second all-time in carrer assist blocks at Emporia State.
Carter was joined on the third team by sophomore right-side hitter Brittney Miller, who has 314 kills this season.
Byfield, a junior libero, was an honorable mention. She leads the Hornets in digs with 486.
Xu, in his fourth season as the Hornets head coach, took the school to its first MIAA title. Emporia State enters the South Central Regional this weekend as the No. 1 seed for the first time in school history.
“He’s definitely one of the best coaches I’ve ever had,” Byfield said. “He’s got different philosophies that obviously work.”
Xu has had a calming influence on a veteran team that did not need a stern hand this season. The Hornets’ rotation consists of mostly upperclassmen and all players who played last season.
“He’s a lot more laid back,” Byfield said. “Most coaches are yelling all the time, and he’s really laid back and has a lot of confidence in the team, so when it comes to coaching, he coaches us in practice and then lets us figure out how to pick ourselves up because he has that much confidence in us in games.”
All-MIAA first team
Allie Cherven, TSU, MH; Monica Miesner, WU, OH; Arica Shepard, ESU, OH; Sammie Williams, PSU, RH; Pamela Cartagena, PSU, OH; Melissa Keck, TSU, RH; Ting Liu, ESU, S; Rachel Fister, UCM, L.
Second team
Paula Harris, UCM, MH; Allie Huffman, UCM, OH; Linda Igbinigie, PSU, MH; Megan Koster, ESU, OH; Eli Medina, TSU, OH; Ellen Thommes, UNO, MH; Caitlin Pankratz, UCM, S; Whitney Boehler, TSU, L.
Third team
Hannah Carter, ESU, MH; Ashley Jurgensmeyer, SBU, MH; Sara Kampschneider, UNO, OH; Mollie Lacy, WU, MH; Brittney Miller, ESU, RH; Ashley Shepard, WU, OH; Kate Hampson, WU, S; Kayla Jansen, UNO, L.
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