Radford University senior Maddie Palmer, who was named Preseason Big South Player of the Year, lived up to the hype and earned Big South Conference Player of the Year the conference announced Thursday. Palmer is accompanied by four other Highlanders that will take home postseason awards.
“Maddie repeating as Player of the Year is a great individual award for her, but I know she would want to thank her teammates for all of the support they have given her over the years,” Marci Jenkins said. “I want to thank all of the coaches in the conference for recognizing her as the top player again this year. Maddie will leave the program as the most decorated player in history, I feel honored to have recruited and coached her the last four years.”
Palmer, like Jenkins said, will leave the most decorated player in Radford history. The all-time kills leader in the rally-scoring era at Radford with 1,494 kills, remains only the fourth player in school history to be named Big South Conference Player of the Year.
The Big South first teamer is the third player to win the conference’s top award back-to-back as Laura Higgins did so in 1988-89 and Katie Sherwood did in 2000-01.
The Simpsonville, S.C., native, who has surpassed 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in her career, is second in the Big South this season with 392 kills and is averaging 3.96 kills per set. She has accumulated 3.58 digs per set including 354 total digs, which lands eighth in the Big South. The senior has also added 17 double-doubles to her resume in her final campaign.
Haley Kleespies and Stephanie Neast were named Second Team All-Big South. Kleespies has won postseason Big South honors in each of her three years as a Highlander. She has reached 1,000 assists every season as well.
This year she is tied for first in the league in assists with 10.11 per set. Posting double-digit assists in every match she competed in this season, Kleespies also racked up seven matches with 10-plus digs giving her seven double-doubles this season.
“Haley has been very steady for us the last three years and this year picked up her play in a few more areas,” Jenkins added. “I’m very proud of the job she has done for the program so far in her career.”
Neast joins Kleespies with postseason honors, however for the sophomore it’s her first conference postseason honor. She totaled 242 kills this season including 2.63 kills per set. Neast recorded a .281 hitting percentage over 92 sets played.
She increased her kill production by almost 100 as she totaled 145 last season. The Mechanicsburg, Pa., native tallied 159 digs this season, which is a career-high for the sophomore.
“Stephanie missed out on the all-freshman team last year and it was something that we talked about in our post season meetings after the season,” Jenkins mentioned. “I am extremely proud of her from coming back and having the year that she has had. She worked really hard in the off-season so it couldn’t have happened to a more deserving player or person.”
Also making her first appearance in the postseason all-conference awards talk is Valerie Gonzalez, named to the Honorable Mention Team. The junior established herself playing 95 sets in 27 matches. She is second on the team with 260 kills and has a .219 hitting percentage.
The Naples, Fla., native added 2.74 kills per set this season. Defensively, she exceeded 100 digs for the first time in her career and added three double-doubles.
“Gonzalez, like Stephanie (Neast) had to get refocused after last season and really set goals for herself,” Jenkins explained. “She did that and her work in the offseason is what has allowed her to be successful this year. Any time you have a player that you know has worked tirelessly to be better in all aspects of the game, you feel very grateful in the work they were able to do.”
“Having the coaches in our conference see the growth in a few of our players is an awesome feeling,” added Jenkins “As a result they are being recognized for the first time, which is an even better feeling.”
The final player earning a postseason honor is Kaylor Nash, who was named to the All-Academic Team. The senior surpassed 1,000 career digs and currently sits in third-place all time in the rally-scoring era in that category. Nash has excelled in the classroom and has a 3.83 cumulative GPA and is in her final year of classes.
Fans can see the all-conference winners and the rest of the No. 2 Seed Highlanders take home court on Saturday at 7 p.m., in a semifinals matchup against the winner of the quarterfinals matchup (No. 3 Campbell / No. 6 Winthrop). If Radford wins they will play for a spot in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at 4 p.m.
–RU Athletics
