IRVINE, Calif. (Dec. 1, 2021) – The All-Big West women’s volleyball teams and major award winners have been announced, a day in advance of the start of 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Championship play commencing across the country.  

Hawai’i outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle headlines the 2021 winners, securing Player of the Year honors in her redshirt senior season. The native of Battle Ground, Wash., transferred to the Rainbow Wahine after competing at Oregon for two years on the court for the Ducks (2016, ’18).  

After earning All-Big West honorable mention status in 2019, Van Sickle took to the floor for her redshirt senior season with gusto, helping Hawai’i to The Big West title while leading the league in points per set (4.56). She averaged 3.80 kills per set and served up 36 aces on the season and was twice named Big West Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 27, Nov. 29).  

Freshman of the Year acclaim belongs to UC Santa Barbara’s Michelle Ohwobete. The outside hitter from Oakland, Calif., averaged 3.17 kills per set and helped the Gauchos to a second-place finish in The Big West standings in her first season of collegiate volleyball. 

Robyn Ah Mow earned her second Coach of the Year distinction, after sharing the award in 2019. In her fifth season at the helm of the Rainbow Wahine, she led Hawai’i to consecutive Big West titles and their 39th NCAA Tournament appearance, and 28th consecutive.  

Hawai’’i and UC Santa Barbara each placed four women on the first team. Long Beach State, UC Irvine and UC Davis saw their name on the first team twice, with CSU Bakersfield and Cal Poly earning one first-team selection apiece. 

Van Sickle is joined by Amber Igiede, Kate Lang and Skyer Williams as the four Rainbow Wahine selections. For UC Santa Barbara, Ohwobete is joined by teammates Rowan Ennis, Macall Peed and Deni Wilson in earning first-team distinction. Ennis closed the year with the best hitting percentage in The Big West (.434). 

Four women are making a repeat on the All-Big West first team, with Big West blocks leader Josephine Ough of UC Davis, Big West kills leader Kashauna Williams of Long Beach State and the Hawai’i pairing of Agiede and Williams each back on the squad after earning honors in 2019. UC Irvine’s Onye Ofoegbu and Katie Kennedy of Hawai’i were on the 2019 All-Freshman Team and have parlayed their experience into first-team nods in 2021.  

CSU Bakersfield setter Seleisa Elisaia, Cal Poly redshirt freshman transfer Tommi Stockham, UC Irvine’s Joy Umeh and Olivia Utterback of UC Davis round out the first-team selections. 

Also announced was the seven-woman All-Freshman Team. First-team honorees Lang, Ohwobete and Utterback were joined by Abrielle Bross (UC Santa Barbara), Peyton Dueck (Cal Poly) and the UC San Diego duo of Emily McDaniel and Ava McInnes, who helped the Tritons usher in their first season of Division I women’s volleyball.  

All told, 10 Big West member-institutions are represented on the postseason awards listings, as voted on by the coaches.  
 

2021 Big West Women's Volleyball All-Conference Team
Player of the Year:	Brooke Van Sickle, Hawai'i
Freshman of the Year:	Michelle Ohwobete, UC Santa Barbara
Coach of the Year:	Robyn Ah Mow, Hawai'i
All-Big West First Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Seleisa Elisaia	Jr.	S	CSU Bakersfield	South Jordan, Utah
Rowan Ennis	Sr.	MB	UC Santa Barbara	Virginia Beach, Va.
Amber Igiede	So.	MB	Hawai’i	Baton Rouge, La.
Katie Kennedy	So.	OH	Long Beach State	Hood River, Ore.
Kate Lang	Fr.	S	Hawai’i	Keller, Texas
Onye Ofoegbu	So.	MB	UC Irvine	Cerritos, Calif.
Michelle Ohwobete	Fr.	OH	UC Santa Barbara	Oakland, Calif.
Josephine Ough	Jr.	MB	UC Davis	El Cerrito, Calif.
Macall Peed	So.	L	UC Santa Barbara	San Diego, Calif.
Tommi Stockham	R-Fr.	OH	Cal Poly	Las Vegas, Nevada
Joy Umeh	So.	OH	UC Irvine	Lakewood, Calif.
Olivia Utterback	Fr.	OH	UC Davis	Plainfield, Ind.
Brooke Van Sickle	R-Sr.	OH	Hawai’i	Battle Ground, Wash.
Kashauna Williams	Jr.	OH	Long Beach State	Los Angeles, Calif.
Skyler Williams	Sr.	MB	Hawai’i	Bellflower, Calif.
Deni Wilson	So.	MB	UC Santa Barbara	Los Angeles, Calif.
Honorable Mention: Brooke Boiseau (CSU Bakersfield), Julia Crawford (Cal State Fullerton), Peyton Dueck (Cal Poly),Tallulah Froley (UC Santa Barbara), Hayley McCluskey (CSU Bakersfield), Emily McDaniel (UC San Diego) Ava McInnes (UC San Diego), Taylor Orshoff (CSUN), Meredith Phillips (Cal Poly), Elizabeth Schuster (Cal State Fullerton)

Big West All-Freshman Team
Student-Athlete	Position	Institution	Hometown
Abrielle Bross	OH	UC Santa Barbara	South Lake Tahoe, Calif.
Peyton Dueck	L/DS	Cal Poly	Aptos, Calif.
Kate Lang	S	Hawai’i	Keller, Texas
Emily McDaniel	MB	UC San Diego	Anaheim, Calif.
Ava McInnes	OH	UC San Diego	Tustin, Calif.
Michelle Ohwobete	OH	UC Santa Barbara	Oakland, Calif.
Olivia Utterback	OH	UC Davis	Plainfield, Ind.