Cal Poly claimed two of the three major awards after clinching its first-ever Big West Conference Tournament title at Zuma Beach, Calif., as voted on by the head coaches. CRISSY JONES and TIA MIRIC garnered Big West Pairs Team of the Year recognition while TODD ROGERS received Coach of the Year honors. Hawaii’s PANI NAPOLEON took home the third marquee award as the conferene’s Freshman of the Year, as announced Monday.
PAIRS TEAM OF THE YEAR • CRISSY JONES & TIA MIRIC, CAL POLY
JONES: Senior • Long Beach, Calif. • Los Alamitos HS
MIRIC: Sophomore • Thornhill, Ontario, Canada • The Bishop Strachan School
• Jones and Miric finished the year with a 22-8 record in completed matches at the top position
• The 22 wins are the most victories for a Cal Poly pair this season
• At the No. 1 flight, Jones and Miric went 4-0 at the Big West Tournament to help the Mustangs make history and claim its first-ever Big West Tournament title
• The tandem swept all four of their matches at the Big West Tournament, including Hawai‘i twice on Championship Saturday
• Jones and Miric earned American Volleyball Coaches Association Pair of the Week honors on April 30, following their dominating performance in Zuma Beach at the league tournament
• The pair helped the Mustangs to their first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance
• First Mustangs to earn Pairs Team of the Year
COACH OF THE YEAR • TODD ROGERS, CAL POLY
• Earned his first Big West Coach of the Year award
• Led Cal Poly to the program’s first Big West Tournament championship and NCAA Tournament appearance
• Guided the Mustangs to a 25-12 record for a .676 win-percentage
• Piloted CP to a top-10 national ranking every week in the American Volleyball Coaches Association poll
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR • PANI NAPOLEON, HAWAI‘I
Bonita, Calif. • Bonita Vista HS
• Fourth-straight SandBow to earn top Freshman honors following Emily Maglio (2016), Morgan Martin (2017) and Lea Monkhouse (2018)
• Finished her rookie campaign with a 30-9 mark overall including a 25-3 record at the No. 3 flight with partner Morgan Martin
• Played matches at the No. 2, 3 and 4 flight
• Helped the SandBows to the NCAA Tournament where UH claimed its fourth-straight NCAA top-four finish
• Napoleon helped Hawai‘i to a 28-11 mark overall for its third-straight season with 25 or more wins