The Big West unveiled its 2025 postseason honors on the eve of The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship, with first-time regular-season champion UC Davis featured prominently in the listings. 

Aggies senior outside hitter Jade Light collected Big West Player of the Year honors after leading the league with 3.99 kills and 4.50 points per set entering the postseason. The Sloughhouse, Calif., native is the first UC Davis player to ever win Player of the Year honors, coming in the Aggies’ last campaign in the conference.  

Joining Light on the All-Big West first team are major award winners in Setter of the Year Mia Starr and Libero of the Year Ximena Cordero Barr. Both new awards since the 2022 season, Starr and Cordero Barr are the first UC Davis players to earn acclaim.  

Starr, a junior from Portland, Ore., has directed the UC Davis offense to their highest tally in conference wins in program history with 16 and the first 20-win season for the Aggies since 2009. Starr is averaging 10.41 assists per set, 23rd nationally and first in The Big West. Holding down the back line, Cordero Barr scoops up 4.59 digs per set to rate second in the league. The sophomore from Tijuana, Mexico anchors the defense that allows opponents to hit a stingy 0.147, sixth in the country. 

At the helm of the Aggies, Big West Coach of the Year Dan Conners became UC Davis’ all-time winningest coach in the final weeks of the regular season, sporting 171 wins in 11 seasons. This is a first career coaching nod for Conners, and just the second Aggie coach to earn conference honors (Jamie Holmes, 2009). Conners now reigns with the most career wins in The Big West among active coaches.  

Second-seeded Cal Poly sees two first team All-Big West selections in redshirt senior setter Emme Bullis and sophomore outside hitter Kendall Beshear. Up from a second-team nod in 2024, Bullis is second in the league with a 9.55 assists per set average. The Whitewater, Wis, native has helped on 4,159 scoring plays for the Mustangs which stands in sixth in NCAA Division I active career leaders. A product of Palos Verdes, Calif., Beshear averages 3.16 kills per set and has served up 40 total aces which is good for second in The Big West this season. Cal Poly’s team hitting percentage of 0.280 heading into Championship week rates 19th nationally.  

UC Santa Barbara also enjoys a pair on the eight-member first team, with redshirt senior Layanna Green joined by Big West Freshman of the Year Gabi Martinez on the listings. Green leads The Big West in hitting percentage at an effective .420, raking 14th in NCAA Division I. The redshirt senior middle blocker from Waukee, Iowa, has been in on 105 total blocks his year to land in the league’s top 10 to earn a first career All-Big West nod.   

Martinez takes home Big West Freshman of the Year honors after a stellar campaign for the true freshman from Katy, Texas. Martinez is second on the team in kills (2.88) and points (3.32) average and has served up 18 aces for UCSB. The award from Martinez makes successive freshman honors UCSB players, following teammate and second team selection Eva Travis.  

Rounding out the All-Big West first team is Long Beach State redshirt freshman Logan King, who hails from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. The opposite hitter for the Beach helped the team to a No. 3 seed in the upcoming Championship brackets while leading the offensive with 3.62 kills and 4.20 points per set. Both figures rate third in the league, trailing only Light and Travis. 

Each team in the postseason enjoys at least one player on the All-Big West second team. Host LBSU sees sophomore setter Madi Maxwell and senior outside hitter Elise Agi on the listings. This is Agi’s second time on the team, also earning distinction in 2023. CSUN’s offensive leader Leah Miller. UC Irvine senior libero Campbell Jensen makes a repeat appearance on the second team. The middle blocker trio of Ally Chandler (UC Davis), Chloe Leluge (Cal Poly) and Bri Gunderson (Hawai’i) complete the team. This marks consecutive nods to the second team for Chandler. 

Both Martinez and King headline The Big West All-Freshman Team and both are joined by a teammate as Jordyn Johnson of UCSB and LBSU’s Sidney Hamaker also earn distinction Brooke Hibino of UC Davis, Cal Poly’s Charlotte Kelly and Cha’lei Reid of Hawai’i complete the seven-player listing.  

The Hawaiian Islands presents the 2025 Outrigger Big West Women’s Volleyball Championship gets underway Wednesday from the newly-renamed LBS Financial Credit Union Pyramid on the campus of Long Beach State. Fifteen of the 16 members of the All-Big West first and second teams will be in action this week competing for the league’s automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division I Championship field. Single- and all-session tickets are available for all three days of action at BigWest.org/wvbtix. 

The Big West 2025 Women's Volleyball All-Conference Team
Player of the Year: Jade Light, UC Davis  Setter of the Year: Mia Starr, UC Davis  Libero of the Year: Ximena Cordero Barr, UC Davis  Freshman of the Year: Gabi Martinez, UC Santa Barbara  Coach of the Year: Dan Conners, UC Davis
All-Big West First Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Kendall Beshear	So.	OH	Cal Poly	Palos Verdes, Calif.
Emme Bullis	R-Sr.	S	Cal Poly	Whitewater, Wis.
Ximena Cordero Barr	So.	L	UC Davis	Tijuana, Mexico
Layanna Green	R-Sr.	MB	UC Santa Barbara	Waukee, Iowa
Logan King	R-Fr.	OPP	Long Beach State	Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Jade Light	Sr.	OH	UC Davis	Sloughhouse, Calif.
Gabi Martinez	Fr.	OH	UC Santa Barbara	Katy, Texas
Mia Starr	Jr.	S	UC Davis	Portland, Ore.
All-Big West Second Team
Student-Athlete	Year	Position	Institution	Hometown
Elise Agi	Sr.	OH	Long Beach State	San Francisco, Calif.
Ally Chandler	Jr.	MB	UC Davis	Loomis, Calif.
Bri Gunderson	Sr.	MB	Hawai’i	Ladera Ranch, Calif.
Campbell Jensen	Sr.	L	UC Irvine	Burbank, Calif.
Chloe Leluge	So.	MB	Cal Poly	Bend, Ore.
Madi Maxwell	So.	S	Long Beach State	Newhall, Calif.
Leah Miller	Sr.	OPP	CSUN	Las Vegas, Nev.
Eva Travis	R-So.	OH	UC Santa Barbara	Aliso Viejo, Calif.
Honorable Mention:   Adrianna Arquette (Hawai’i); Breeze Czapinski (UC Davis); Kendra Duffey (UC Irvine); Emma Fredrick (Cal Poly); Jordyn Johnson (UC Santa Barbara); Victoria Leyva (Hawai’i); Molly McCluskey (UC San Diego); Hayley Ogden (CSUN); Cha’lei Reid (Hawai’i); Miliana Sylvester (Hawai’i); Annabelle Thalken (Cal Poly); Nicole Zake (Cal State Bakersfield)

Big West All-Freshman Team
Student-Athlete	Position	Institution	Hometown
Sidney Hamaker	OH	Long Beach State	Oswego, Ill.
Brooke Hibino	OH	UC Davis	Salinas, Calif.
Jordyn Johnson	MB	UC Santa Barbara	Saint Paul, Minn.
Charlotte Kelly	MB	Cal Poly	Pleasanton, Calif.
Logan King	OPP	Long Beach State	Newmarket, Ontario, Canada
Gabi Martinez	OH	UC Santa Barbara	Katy, Texas
Cha’lei Reid	OH	Hawai’i	La‘ie, O‘ahu