GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) has announced its 2013 Women’s Volleyball All-Conference selections, with first, second and third team honors being awarded regardless of position to a total of 21 student-athletes, as selected by the conference coaches.

The NEAC has also announced its individual women’s volleyball award winners, which were also voted on by the conference coaches.  SUNY Institute of Technology’s Jake Bluhm was chosen by his peers as NEAC Coach of the Year after guiding the Wildcats to a fantastic season.  After going 12-24 last season, Bluhm led SUNYIT to a program-best overall record of 28-4, which included a 9-1 mark in conference play that gave the team a share of the NEAC regular season title.  The team also won 24 straight matches during the season, which was the longest active winning streak in the nation at that time. 

On the court, SUNYIT was led by senior Kaitlyn Harrington (Central Square, N.Y.), who was named the NEAC Player of the Year in addition to being an All-Conference First Team selection.  A two-time NEAC Player of the Week selection, Harrington ranked in the top 10 in the conference in numerous categories, including kills (6^th – 324), kills per set (5^th – 3.24), serve aces (3^rd – 71), serve aces per set (2^nd – 0.71), points (5^th – 410.5), points per set (3^rd – 4.1) and hitting percentage (10^th - .243).  The three-year team captain also won an Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Upstate Player of the Week award during the season.

Penn State Berks took the final two awards, as sophomore libero Morgan Buterbaugh (Lancaster, Pa.) was named the NEAC Defensive Player of the Year, while freshman Sophia Zhang (Tianjin, China) was chosen as the NEAC Rookie of the Year.  Buterbaugh, a two-time NEAC Defensive Player of the Week selection, leads the conference and is currently second in the nation in digs per set (7.14), while having a NEAC-most 693 digs, which is also the most in a season in program history for Berks.  Buterbaugh recorded at least 13 digs in all 28 Nittany Lion contests and racked up at least 30 digs nine different times this season en route to being an All-Conference Second Team selection.      

Zhang was voted as the conference’s top rookie after leading the NEAC in kills per set (4.02), while being second in points per set (4.2), third in hitting percentage (.280) and fourth in total kills with 390, which was a single-season program record for Berks. During conference play, the outside hitter smashed a NEAC-most 149 kills for a conference-best average of 4.26 kills per set, while her .351 hitting average and her 152.5 total points for a 4.4 point-per-set average in NEAC action were all second best.  Zhang, an All-Conference First Team selection who also earned a NEAC Player of the Week honor earlier this season, recorded double-digit kill totals 21 times this season, including doing so in 16 straight matches.

Below are the NEAC All-Conference First Team, Second Team and Third Team selections:

All-Conference Team Selections 

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The North Eastern Athletic Conference has twelve NCAA Division III member institutions which include: Cazenovia College, College of St. Elizabeth, Gallaudet University, Keuka College, Lancaster Bible College, Pennsylvania State University - Abington, Pennsylvania State University - Berks, SUNY Cobleskill, SUNY Institute of Technology, SUNY Morrisville State College, Wells College, and Wilson College.  Bryn Athyn College and Pennsylvania College of the Technology will both join the conference as full members in 2014-15.  Associate members are: Cedar Crest College (W Swimming), D’Youville College (M Volleyball), Hilbert College (M Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Medaille College (M&W Lacrosse & M Volleyball), Penn State Altoona (M Volleyball) and Rutgers University - Camden (M Golf & M Tennis).  The North Eastern Athletic Conference has partnered with the North Atlantic Conference in the sports of men’s and women’s tennis.